


Silver Salvation

by phoenixreal



Series: Bleach Alpha/Beta and MPreg Fics [8]
Category: Bleach
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Brainwashing, Dubious Consent, Gang Rape, Genetic Alterations, Human Experimentation, Identity Issues, Kidnapping, Lemon, M/M, Mating Cycles/In Heat, Mpreg, Neko Ichigo, Non-Consensual Body Modification, Non-Consensual Drug Use, Post-Fullbringer Arc, Rape Recovery, Seme Hitsugaya Toushirou, Sexual Content, Suicide Attempt, Torture, Uke Ichigo, Yaoi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-01-07
Updated: 2017-07-14
Packaged: 2018-01-07 21:25:53
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 7
Words: 32,755
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1124544
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/phoenixreal/pseuds/phoenixreal
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In the World of the Living, Ichigo Kurosaki has regained his power and recovered from the events with Xcution. He has come to a fairly pleasant routine, and that routine includes regular visits from Tōshirō Hitsugaya. Taking advantage of the peaceful times, Tōshirō has decided to learn about both the World of the Living and a person he finds of great interest. Peace can’t last, and Ichigo and Tōshirō end up facing some unexpected consequences of Ichigo’s protective nature. Disturbed and shaken by the experience, both are left to try and understand what has happened.</p><p>When an unethical scientist with a mysterious Fullbring named Fumiki Togoshi hears of Ichigo’s history, she follows through on a plan to attempt an even more perfect creation than those that Aizen was attempting. Ichigo finds himself a prisoner in Hueco Mundo alongside an imprisoned ex-sixth Espada. Quickly broken down and changed into something nearly unrecognizable, can a man with a frozen heart realize how to save him in time?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chained Ice

**Author's Note:**

> NOTE: This Fic is being updated as of June 2017! The story is being completely redone. 
> 
> Author’s Notes  
> From Beverly…With Love
> 
> This is a Canon Divergent yaoi fanfiction novel. This story takes place approximately a year after the events of the Fullbringer arc, around three years after the defeat of Aizen. Ichigo, regaining his power, has resumed his normal duties of being a substitute Shinigami and helping Soul Society with the hollows around Karakura Town. Characters in this type of fanfiction may have alterations from their original depiction. There may be events that have occurred in character backgrounds that account for these changes. This is a work of fanfiction; not all elements about the characters will be the same as the original author intended. Names are presented in Western Style (given name, surname). Honorifics are used when appropriate.
> 
> This work contains Fullbringer OCs Fumiki Togoshi and Murai Shibata.
> 
> The Arrancar OCs Chilin, Fereydun and his siblings, Kriya, Velocity, Moab, Dima, Imelda, and Maxi are used by the courtesy of SapphireTou (FFN/Ao3). 
> 
> Warnings
> 
> This is a hardcore yaoi fanfiction. This is rated MA. This contains explicit sexual content. This story includes humiliation, non-consensual body modification, forced bondage, sexual/physical/mental torture, and rape. This story also contains animal drives, dubious consent due to mental states, attempted suicide, and male pregnancy. This story is not intended to be read by individuals under the age of 18.
> 
> Disclaimer
> 
> I do not claim ownership of any part of the Bleach universe or of the Bleach characters. Tite Kubo owns this amazing world; I am simply playing within it. Original elements do belong to me. There is no copyright infringement intended and I in no way make money from writing or posting this work of fanfiction.

* * *

**Chapter One**

_Chained Ice_

Tōshirō groaned as he tried to open his eyes. What the hell had happened? He frowned. He was in Gigai. That meant something happened when he was in the world of the living and he hadn’t managed to use his soul candy to get out of his Gigai. He thought hard. Why would he have been unable to get out of his Gigai? That was indeed the question. He cast his memory back and tried to remember what had been happening and then the world started to clear.

He’d been walking with Ichigo in the World of the Living, keeping an eye on him after his power had been returned to him. After everything had been revealed, it had been surprising to him that Ichigo had been so calm. Even after he knew about being spied on the whole time, and his power monitored, Ichigo had accepted it and moved on. Tōshirō often decided to come to the World of the Living to see him. He had no idea why, really. Perhaps it was because after near three years had passed since Aizen’s downfall and he found that for some reason, he missed him. Tōshirō had changed a lot in that time, finally growing to a reasonable size. He had no idea why it had taken him so long to get to the point he looked mature enough to be a captain. He was as tall as Ichigo now, something which pleased him entirely. He supposed that as a Shinigami age didn’t matter like humans, and their growth depended both on time and increase in power. In the last three years, he had been working to deepen his connection with Hyōrinmaru and felt hat his change physically reflected that.  

This week, he’d had a rare two days off in a row from his duties, and he had decided to come visit Ichigo. In a way, he’d gotten used to being around the Ichigo that was in the human world. He smiled a lot more, and now that there were no threats to those he cared about, he seemed more relaxed. Occasionally, they would spar, but more often than not, Toshiro enjoyed something that he had never experienced. He simply enjoyed Ichigo’s company as well as others. Ichigo told him if he wanted to visit, he was happy to help him fit in. So, Toshiro had become Ichigo’s friend from Tokyo who came around now and then. Toshiro thought it was funny how bothered Ichigo was by erasing memories of them, but he let it be. Ichigo preferred to have others see him as a human, and not “scramble their brains” when Toshiro left. Today, they had been on their way to go see Tatsuki when everything grayed out.

Still, that didn’t explain the current situation. 

Tōshirō remembered seeing Ichigo stiffen and fall forward into his arms, and he remembered feeling a world tilting sensation himself.

Finally, he heard a groan beside him and he managed to unglue the eyes of his Gigai. He realized saw he was in a very empty, dimly lit room room. Little more than shadows lit the area around him. He hummed to himself and wondered what to do with the situation. He couldn’t move his arms, so he looked up. Then he realized his hands were secured above his head by a set of metal shackles. What? He turned his head and saw Ichigo in a similar situation, hands above him, slouching as he rolled his head around. He was in his human body. They were both dressed in plain clothes for the World of the Living, and it seemed somehow Ichigo was more out of it than he was. He blinked. Of course, he could feel something in the Gigai, some sort of drug. Kurosaki didn’t have a Gigai; that was his human body with all the vulnerabilities that came along with it.

“Oh, look boss, the boys are up!” a gravelly voice said from nearby.

Tōshirō looked up to see a man that would almost rival Kenpachi in size leering at him. Behind him was a thinner, shorter man with dark hair, and a blond haired broad-shouldered man. He glared at Tōshirō. “You sure you’re not in middle school, boy? I ain’t no fuckin’ shotacon.”

Tōshirō bristled. “I’m not a damn child!” he said firmly. He was older than everyone in the room put together, for soul’s sake! Considering that he was finally as tall as Ichigo, it was very annoying that these brutes still accused him of being a kid.

The grin he received from the large dark-haired man was enough to send a shiver down his spine. “Too bad, I coulda let ya go if you were.”

“Boss, you happy? I grabbed him too, sorry I couldn’t get Kurosaki alone…” the blond said with a shaky grin.

The “boss” eyed Ichigo’s form and glanced at Tōshirō. “Eh, that’s fine, double the pleasure and all that shit. We’ll let the little one watch.”

The “boss” turned away from Tōshirō and to Ichigo. He smirked and forced Ichigo’s chin up. Ichigo started violently as though he hadn’t realized there was anyone else around him. “Ah, ya do remember me, eh, brat?”

Ichigo’s voice was slurred. “Fuck you want, bastard…beat yer ass ‘gin…”

“Yeah, try that. Your scrawny ass left me with a broken jaw, you know how much that shit hurts?” he said, eyes narrowed.

Ichigo spit in his face. “Fuck ya, Gerino.”

Gerino leaned forward. “Nah, fuck you, Kurosaki. At least I plan to.”

At that, Ichigo yanked on his arms, looking up, as if realizing suddenly that he was chained. He muttered and kicked out violently, narrowly missing a chuckling Gerino. Tōshirō could see that the kick was still powerful despite Ichigo’s weakened state. The Gigai was clearing, and Tōshirō was trying to think about a way out of this.

“Nah, not gonna happen, now way yer gonna get yer feet near my face again. Don’t know who fuckin’ taught you to fight, but gods damn,” Gerino said, glaring at him as Ichigo tried in vain to kick the guy in the face again.

“Fuck ya,” he slurred again, resting against the wall panting. “The hell you do…to me…”

“Kenda, he wants to know what we did to him,” he said with a grin. “Should we tell him?”

Kenda, the blond guy apparently, snickered. “Nah, but I got another syringe ready if he’s gonna fight ya, boss.”

Tōshirō struggled against his bonds. “What are you doing? What’s this about?”

Gerino looked at Tōshirō. “Ah, ya must be new to Kurosaki here. He has this problem, getting tangled up with the wrong folks. Always having to interfere where he shouldn’t, can’t leave well enough alone, y’see.”

Ichigo snarled. “You fucker, ya were trying to rape that girl…”

Tōshirō felt a shiver, knowing well how protective Ichigo was of others. And he could see him unable to stop himself from interceding in that situation.

“And ya shoulda left us alone. Because now you, Kurosaki, are going to get the attention I was gonna give her,” he said, coming close enough that Ichigo’s foot lashed out, kicking him in the leg. It was hard enough that Toshiroo could hear the smack of his kick connecting. “Feisty still.”

_Gerino motioned the others forward, and all three pressed him to the wall as the blond forced the syringe in his neck. Ichigo gasped as the feeling of weakness slowly washed over him. His head was foggy and he was dizzy, feeling like he was falling despite the chains on him. His stomach lurched and his vision wavered. He started panting, his heart beating out of his chest. His head was buzzing in a pleasant way, though. His world that had faded in for a second faded back out._

“Like that, bitch? Hope Kenda didn’t give you too much, hate to see you have a heart attack, since I bet yer clean cut ass has never had K before,” Gerino said, breathing against his neck.

“What’d you give him?” Tōshirō asked, eyes wide at the sudden effect on the substitute Shinigami. If he could just get into soul form... His eyes fell at Ichigo’s hip, the substitute badge was close, and he was sure the guys in the room couldn’t see it. If he could just get a limb up enough…

That thought was crushed though when to his horror the large man yanked Ichigo’s shirt open, popping all the buttons at once, and staring at the white shirt underneath. Gerino took a knife from his waistband and sliced down the front of it, and Tōshirō saw blood beading underneath as the shirt fell open.

“What are you doing?” Tōshirō asked. Gerino paused, looking at him.

“Don’t worry, when we’re done with him, you’ll be next,” the blonde one said from his possiton on the other side of Gerino. “I think you’ll scream pretty too.”

Tōshirō was horrified as Gerino gripped Ichigo’s slacks and yanked them open, ripping the zipper and button apart with a loud rip and pop. Gerino turned and leered at the Shinigami captain, eyes dark and rimmed with blue. Tōshirō didn’t have to ask any further as the man yanked Ichigo’s pants and boxers off him and tossed them to the floor close to Tōshirō’s feet. Tōshirō’s breath caught, staring at the badge. If he could stretch enough to plant his foot on it…

The rattling of chain brought his attention back as they unhooked Ichigo’s hands above him. He started struggling then, pushing and cursing almost unintelligibly. It was quite obvious that despite the weakness, he was painfully aware of the situation. He was tossed to the floor where he landed with a groan. The dark haired one Tōshirō was yet to hear the name of shoved him forward onto his stomach, and he flinched to heart the crunch and cry of pain as he landed on his face, blood blossoming on the concrete.

Tōshirō watched to see him raise his head with a yelp as the one behind him do something that Tōshirō couldn’t see. His eyes were wide and hazy and blood was pouring over his mouth.

“Fuck, Gerino, bastard’s a virgin, you want it first?” he growled out.

Gerino chuckled. “Now this is fun, how about we give him a full ride, eh, Hino?”

The dark haired one grinned in a way that made Tōshirō’s chest ache. Wait, were they…

“You think he can take both of us without breaking in half?” Hino said, pulling Ichigo up by the back of his head.

Gerino opened his pants and settled down against the wall. “Who gives a fuck, give ‘im here, I’m going in first,” he muttered grabbing Ichigo’s hips.

_The weird in and out nature of his brain clicked, and Ichigo came to reality for a moment. Somewhere in his mind he knew what was happening. It was dull, though, like it was another person. He couldn’t focus his eyes though, and then his throbbing nose was the least of his worries as he felt someone grab his hips and a stabbing burn shot through him as a scream torn from his lips and he thrashed madly to get away from it, tears shedding in a rainfall to mix with the blood on his face. He heard Tōshirō’s voice and was mortified to realize that he was watching this._

The second man moved in front, and Tōshirō couldn’t see much more than his back, but he winced as Ichigo screamed again, and he heard the sounds of the two men chuckling at his pain. “Shut him up, Kenda. I’m tired of the screaming,” Gerino said as he slammed upward, getting another pained sound from Ichigo followed by a sob.

 _Kenda was at just the right height to grab Ichigo’s face and force himself into his mouth, getting a strangled sound as he choked around him._ _As if this wasn’t humiliation enough, he thought, his brain screaming, and nausea fighting to throw out the offending object from his throat. Right now, all he wanted was to make it all go away, in any way he could. If Tōshirō wasn’t here, he could have handled this easier, but know that he was seeing this horrible event was mortifying. How could he ever look at him again?_

Tōshirō was desperately trying to reach the badge. The damn thing was just barely out of his toe’s reach. He took a moment to look up. _Well, this is going to hurt_ , he thought as he started to yank hard on his shackles. This was going to transfer right to his soul form, so he made sure to pull with his non-dominate hand. He was going to need his sword arm to get those bastards off Ichigo. It was painfully slow, and as he glanced over, to his horror, Ichigo’s struggles were growing weaker, and there was a lot of blood running down his front, and he saw the glint of a knife as the one in front was digging the tip into his chest, leaving long lines of dripping blood. He gasped to himself, trying to concentrate, because he very much doubted that either one of them was supposed to leave here alive.

He groaned as he felt the bones in the Gigai’s hand crack. He bit his lip hard against the pain as blood began to trickle down his arm and soak into the sleeve. He kept pulling and finally, a combination of the broken hand and the slick blood let his hand slide free. His other dropped as the first one was freed. Kenda, the one standing, shot a look at him, and thrust himself into Ichigo one last time, finishing his with a drawn-out groan, seemingly unhurried at the fact the smaller one of the pair they’d kidnapped had freed himself. He turned, knife at the ready as Tōshirō slammed his foot into the badge, sending his Gigai tumbling, and his soul form backward. Kenda blinked to see the body fall and laughed at the unconscious form.

Tōshirō growled, his hand aching, and pulled out his Zanpakutō but kept his cool. He had to stop them because Ichigo wasn’t going to survive this. He concentrated on forcing power through his weapon to make Hyōrinmaru affect the human bodies. He swallowed and flipped his sword around and slammed the hilt into the back of the first one’s head who had been abusing Ichigo’s mouth. He fell with a tumble backward, but the other two didn’t notice as they were reaching their own completion. Ichigo was silent now, his head fallen backward onto the Gerino’s shoulder and staring straight ahead, eyes wet.

Tōshirō grimaced, knowing that he couldn’t have stopped this but still filled with regret. He quickly swung the back of his sword into the dark-haired Hino, making him slump forward, blood running down his back. Gerino shoved Ichigo off, who had thankfully passed out, and stood up, grabbing his pants and looking for the attacker he couldn’t see. He didn’t have to wait long as Tōshirō planted a foot to his gut and then slammed his sword hilt into his forehead making blood blossom there. He was going to have a lot of explaining to do as to why he attacked three humans in his Shinigami form. It didn’t matter, though, even if he was punished for it. He wasn’t going to allow them to kill Ichigo.

As he tried to collect himself, Tōshirō heard sirens. He grabbed his Gigai and slipped back in; he knew finding a bloody unconscious body would not help the situation. They didn’t need to focus on him, they needed to worry about Ichigo. He scrambled over, pulling the chains with him and gathered Ichigo’s body up into his lap, running a hand through his hair. His face was covered in blood and other things that Tōshirō would rather not think of. He could also feel his pants becoming damp under Ichigo’s body as he held him. He was bleeding a lot, he knew. He pulled the button up shirt off himself and covered Ichigo’s nakedness. He could do that much at least.

“Ichigo? Please, come on, are you okay?” he whispered. There was no response, and Tōshirō didn’t know enough about humans to tell how bad it was. The blood, and the feeling of Ichigo’s rapid heartbeat against his hands where they held him was frightening him. Tōshirō looked up as a pair of uniformed officers came in, guns raised before them. They quickly blanched at the scene of the two of them huddled on the floor.

Tōshirō looked up, not realizing he had tears in his eyes until the slipped down his face. “Please, help him?”

His own hand was mangled, they could see, but they were more concerned with the bloody form in his lap. The first one pressed a button on his communication device that Tōshirō didn’t know the name of and yelled.

“We need an ambulance at our location, now!”

He moved forward and looked over the two, knowing full well what had transpired. Tōshirō was starting to get even more scared, Ichigo’s breathing was erratic, and the heartbeat under his hand was seeming to stutter.

“What’d they give him?” the other officer asked, holding up the empty syringe he’d picked up from the floor.

Tōshirō shook his head. “He called it…K?”

“Fuck,” the one in front of him muttered. “How much?”

Tōshirō shook his head, hearing the blaring sirens getting closer. “I don’t know, it was full, and the guy said he hoped he didn’t give him too much…Kurosaki…he’s never had anything like that…”

The other officer looked up, narrowing eyes at the bundle on the floor. “Kurosaki?” he said. “Isshin’s son? Shit…”

Tōshirō nodded. “You know his father?”

The other man, nodded, “Yeah, he’s fixed me up a couple times. Shit, where’s that ambulance?”

Tōshirō looked down to the Ichigo and saw his breathing was becoming more irregular. He heard a loud siren and everything blurred as he watched as the Shinigami substitute was scooped up and placed on a stretcher, and Tōshirō was led into the back of the ambulance with him. Tōshirō watched, wide-eyed as the two paramedics worked. The officer handed one of the paramedics the syringe he’d found and told him what had been used. The paramedic nodded, and set to work, starting by something that looked like he was trying to stabilize his breathing.

Tōshirō barely noticed as they wrapped his hand, and felt as they looked over his other that still had the set of handcuffs still attached. He was slightly numb, actually, a strange feeling for the captain. He looked down to see a bag at his feet; he lifted it up and saw that thankfully, they had picked up Ichigo’s discarded clothes. He reached in and unhooked the badge, pocketing it quickly. Last thing they needed was someone at the hospital able to detect it.

He heard words he really didn’t know much about, such as overdose, tachycardia, respiratory failure, and vaguely he wondered if he would be performing a konso on Ichigo before the end of the night. He really hoped not. How would he explain that to the elder Kurosaki? How could he even face him after having let his son die in such a horrible way? How was he going to face him if Ichigo lived? He’d let this happen by not being able to save him. How was he going to look at Ichigo again? Even if he passed to the next realm, scars from something like this lasted, even into Soul Society.

Time seemed to do a funny thing for him, and skipped around. He moved, and was moved by others. Another woman fretted over his hand. He was asked his information. He gave what Ichigo had told him to give when asked. His name was Tōshirō Hitsugaya, a student from Tokyo University.

Tōshirō now sat in the small private waiting room they’d put him in after treating his hand and got the handcuff off his other one. He gripped the substitute badge in his less damaged hand. He looked up to see Isshin, Karin and Yuzu come in. He locked eyes with the dark-haired Kurosaki, who of course knew exactly what Tōshirō was, having saved her from attacking hollows. Both the girls had gotten used to seeing him around over the last year. Tōshirō then looked hard at Isshin and felt a tightening in his chest. Yuzu seemed to be the only one oblivious to what was going on, frantically babbling about her brother.

Finally, Isshin calmed her and turned to Tōshirō and asked simply, “What happened?”

Tōshirō looked up, unconsciously stroking the badge. “We were going to Tasuki’s, and he slumped forward into me, then I saw black. I woke up in still in gig…er hanging by my wrists beside him. He was more out of it though, slurring and stuff. Then this guy, he said he was going to get back at Kurosaki for breaking his jaw. I guess Kurosaki had broken up their attempt to rape some girl…” He felt his throat tighten. “And…and they shot him with that stuff, K, they said, saying he might have gotten too much, and…I couldn’t get _out,”_ he said, emphasizing the word and glancing at both of the knowing Kurosakis. “He couldn’t get _out_ ,” he said, rubbing his fingers over the badge. “I saw it, and tried but they…they pulled him down and his clothes landed in front of me, close enough for me almost touch…” he was running hands over the badge, and he looked up seeing that Isshin was aware of what he meant.

“I couldn’t get to it in time, I yanked and pulled and my hand finally gave enough to slide it out, but it was far too late by the time I got to him…” he said the last softly. He was honestly distraught by his inability to get out of the situation faster. He was a captain, a damn prodigy even, and he couldn’t help stop his friend from being gang raped right in front of him. What kind of person was he? How weak and pathetic was he?

Isshin nodded, and put a hand on his shoulder, not wanting to put the young captain through saying more. “I know you did what you could, Tōshirō.”

Tōshirō nodded, feeling tears again, and saw Yuzu looking at them with confused eyes, and they looked up as the door opened, a white-haired man that looked vaguely familiar.  

“Ryūken,” Isshin said. “How is he?” Ah, Tōshirō thought, Uryū’s father. Who else would be brought in on Ichigo’s case?

The man ran a hand through his hair. “Well, he was overdosed on ketamine, but we managed to get his breathing under control, and I don’t think there will be long term effects of it. We had to put some stitches into some of the knife cuts on his chest and back, but none were life threatening. He’s going in for some stitching; he’s had some internal tearing that we have to fix right away. There are going to be some long term psychological effects.”

The white-haired man looked at Tōshirō. Tōshirō had no idea how much the elder Ishida knew about him, but by the look, he could guess he knew what he was. “What did they do exactly? There was a lot of damage…more than I would expect.”

Tōshirō swallowed. “Two of them, together,” he whispered. He glanced to see the twitch Isshin in Isshin’s eye.

Ryūken frowned. “Well, that would account for it, then. Okay, I’ll let you know when you can see him, okay?”

Yuzu looked around. “What do they mean? What happened to our brother?”

Karin sighed. “He got beat up, okay, Yuzu? He’ll be fine.”

There was a tense silence and Tōshirō stood up, and handed the badge to Isshin. “I’ve got to report back…” he said softly, so Isshin was the only one to hear him. “I already talked to the police here.”

Tōshirō left, somewhat shaky, and headed back to Urahara’s shop to drop off his Gigai and get it repaired while he was gone. He entered and was greeted by the coy shopkeeper, whose normal face seemed to immediately take in Tōshirō’s unhappy expression. He sighed, and let the eccentric man push his soul out of his Gigai and fell back to the floor by the tea table, wincing at the damage in his soul form.

“Can I help with that?” Tessai, the monstrous kido master said looking down. Tōshirō nodded and let it be healed.

“Goodness, what happened to you, in Gigai, no less?” he said staring at the Gigai with the bandaged hand on the floor.

“Kurosaki and I got jumped by some guys, humans, and he’s in the hospital right now,” he said solemnly.

Urahara paled a bit. “My, my, what in the world could do Ichigo in like that?”

Tōshirō swallowed. “Some drug they used on him, did something called…ah…overdose?”

“Frailty of his human form, huh? He couldn’t get to his badge to fight the effects off?” Urahara asked.

Tōshirō held up his hands. “They had us chained up, he couldn’t use his hands and I couldn’t get to the soul candy. I was going to reach his badge but…before I could they’d pulled him down, but his pants where the badge was were in front of me. I managed to break my hand and get out and get to the badge, but by then…”

Urahara nodded. “I’ll talk to Isshin for the details. I take it he and Ryūken are at the hospital with him?”

Tōshirō nodded. “Yes, but I’m going to have to give a full report to the head captain about what happened. That’s not going to be easy. I don’t even want to think about what I saw.”

He sighed and stood up slowly. He was worried. Very worried.

-oooooo-OOOOOO-oooooo-

“Hmm, you’re sure about that?” Fumiki Togoshi asked. “It was the one with the odd Fullbring, right? Oh, I am dying to get my hands on him…” she muttered into the phone. “Yeah, bring him to me. I’ve got my other test subjects across in Hueco Mundo. You can open the way again, right?” She paused. “Alright, meet me at the usual place. We’ll go together.”

Fumiki put down the cell phone and looked around the lab. She was a research scientist at a facility that specialized in biological technology. She’d been a part of a few cloning projects, but nothing in the “real” world caught her attention like the things that invaded it. She’d captured a hollow when she was a teenager, when she realized that she had powers. Another Fullbringer had found her, tried to train her, but she ended up killing him. Well, that was accidental. She couldn’t help it that he hadn’t been able to survive the experiments she had run. Then she had run into a shy but beastly man named Murai Shibata. He had a Fullbring that turned out to be quite useful. He could open a path to the hollow’s world. There, she built herself a hidden lab in a set of caverns, and there she kept her current experiments.

In the last twenty years, she had learned ways to contain them and negate their powers. Then, there was a major battle and she found so many wandering evolved hollows, the ones that called themselves Arrancar. Most of them were weak and useless, but she finally found one that seemed to survive everything she did. He’d been a pain to catch and he was incredibly violent. However, a slight manipulation of his situation, and she could get him to do whatever she wanted. The best part, she thought, was he was a cat hollow. She just loved cats.

She knew that Murai wouldn’t let her down. He traveled by way of Hueco Mundo, opening one portal and stepping through, then opening another. It was the only thing he was good for.

This one, though. She had heard how Tsukishima had stolen his Fullbring. That was honestly the most horrible thing she could imagine happening since she depended on her fullbring for her research. More than that, he had become a Shinigami again, and that was one thing she had never experimented on. If the rumors were true about him having a hollowified Zanpakutō spirit, she was going to ecstatic. That meant that she could continue her work to fuse hollow and Shinigami in a way to make a self-propagating species of mindless soldiers with powers enough to take out hollows, Fullbringers, or Shinigami. From what she knew, this one had already defeated Shinigami captain.

_She headed to her boss and put in a leave for at least two weeks, stating that she had a personal research project to handle. Considering her innovative works before, no one questioned it. It was a personal research project. Of course, she wouldn’t have been able to do this sort of things to humans. That would have unethical. But hollows and Shinigami weren’t really humans at all.  
_

* * *


	2. Ice Bridges

The world came swimming back with a vengeance, and Ichigo wondered what he had ever done to the world to warrant such treatment. Really, he honestly didn’t want to piss off the world at large. He pissed off enough people as it was. He didn’t need the whole goddamned world on his ass. He groaned, and realized that every part of him hurt. There was a humming beep and he suddenly felt better. His eyes fluttered open and he found he was looking up at his father.

“Goat face, wha’s goin’ on?” he mumbled, swallowing against sudden bile rising in his throat.

Isshin put a hand on him as he started to sit up. “You just got out of a minor surgery, son, just lay back.”

He blinked, trying to remember what was going on. “What happened? I was walking with Tōshirō…where’d he go?”

“He had to go back,” he said softly. “Needed to report on since the incident involved humans.” Ichigo nodded. Then he stopped and stared at his father. Incident? What incident?

Ichigo shook his head, feeling sort of dizzy. “Where are we now?”

“Recovery, you’ve been waking up for the last hour or so,” he said softly.

“I feel really weird…”

“They’ve given you a morphine drip for the time being until we get to your room. You get a little every six minutes. Then you’ll have control over when you get it,” he said smiling.

Ichigo snorted. “Can I just go home instead?”

“Sorry son, but doctor’s orders, you stay overnight.” Isshin turned and saw that none of the nurses were close. “But once we get home, Orihime can take care of your injuries. We just have to wait it out until we can get you discharged.”

Ichigo exhaled. He understood that. There was some sort of incident, and though he couldn’t remember it, he knew that there were too many people that would realize he healed suddenly, especially if it was something bad. He couldn’t remember what it could have been though. By the numb feeling in his body, he guessed he got in a fight.

Before long he had been shuffled into a room and settled in for the night with instructions on not getting up without a nurse. His dad had left with instructions they’d talk tomorrow, that his only duty was to rest. Soon enough though, Orihime and Uryū came to visit.

“Kurosaki-kun!” she exclaimed. “I wish I’d been here sooner before the police were involved, I could have healed you already!”

Ichigo shook his head. “I’m not even sure what the hell happened, and no one seems to want to tell me. And Tōshirō has gone back to Soul Society, and he’s the one who was with me,” he said frowning. “Really pissing me off right now. Stupid goat-face said we’d talk tomorrow. I want to know why I had surgery all of sudden! Or where, I don’t see anything…”

Uryū and Orihime exchanged glances. “So, you don’t remember what happened?” Uryū asked, sliding his glasses up his nose again.

“Bastard, I wouldn’t be pissed if I could remember a damned thing! All I know is I was walking to go see Tatsuki with Tōshirō, then…I don’t know.” He scowled, brows knitting together. “I remember Tōshirō yelling, but goat face didn’t say he’d been hurt. And they won’t let me eat! It’s freaking annoying.”

There was a soft knock at the door, and all three looked up to see a uniformed officer. “May I come in?”

Ichigo nodded. “Sure, why not, join the party.”

“If you wouldn’t mind stepping out?” he asked.

“They can stay, if I’ve gotta talk to you,” Ichigo frowned at him. The officer nodded with little expression on his face. Ichigo couldn’t understand why he was so damn irritated at everyone.

“Just routine procedures here for the case. Can you tell me what you remember of today?”

Ichigo sighed deeply. “Um, well, this morning I met up with my friend, Tōshirō, and we were going to visit our friend Tatsuki. I seem to remember falling, then…I don’t know. Nothing. I remember snatches of stuff, like Tōshirō screaming and…” He got a faraway look on his face. Uryū reached out and put a hand on his shoulder, only to have Ichigo jerk violently away from him with a start.

“Dammit, Ishida! Don’t scare me like that,” he said, but Uryū caught the subtle waver to his voice when he said it.

“Eh hem, what else do you remember, Kurosaki-san?” the officer continued.

“A needle…wait, did they give me some kind of drug? Wait, who are they?” he frowned, looking down at the sheets confused thoroughly. “Why did I even say that?”

“It’s okay Kurosaki-san, after an assault like this is it quite common to suffer temporary amnesia,” the officer said, jotting notes on a clipboard.

“What kind of assault? Did someone hit me in the head?” he asked, touching his head and finding it fine. He felt around and jolted when his fingers touched his nose and mouth. Both of them were tender and he felt stitches in his lip now that he was paying attention to it. He ran his hands down his chest and felt other tender spots. A fight? He’d been in fights before and he didn’t have this same kind of feeling afterward. “And what the hell surgery did I have anyway?” he muttered, still wondering what the hell that was about.

It was at that moment that a sudden and flushing panic that started to set in. He looked down to find his hands both shaking and a shudder hit him. He had no idea why, it was at the corners of his mind trying to crawl back into his consciousness and he knew he didn’t want it to come out, whatever it was. He was trying desperately to suppress whatever it was clawing at his mind. Voices came unbidden and a voice rang through his head. _Leave him alone!_ And he knew it was Tōshirō.

He was shocked out of the thoughts when he felt someone touch him and he jerked so violently away he ripped the IV out of his arm, blood dripping down as he held his arms crossed over himself. He stared as blood ran down his arms to the sheets in his lap. Blood, he thought. A lot of blood.

“Kurosaki-kun?” Orihime’s voice filtered in. He looked up blinking. “Are you okay?” she asked, her wide gray eyes looking at him, piercing him. He wanted her to look away because if she kept looking at him like this she was going to _see it._

He fixed her with a wide-eyed stare and shook his head. “No…I don’t think so… What…what happened?”

He looked around and noticed Uryū coming back with a tall, thin male nurse. He looked down and saw the blood leaking from where the IV had been torn out by his motions. He stared at it for a while again. The nurse replaced all the things on the line and then turned to him with a cloth to clean away the blood, but as soon as his hand touched him, Ichigo pulled away. “No, stop…” he said, shaking his head.

“Kurosaki-san, we have to replace…”

Ichigo had no idea but he was not letting this guy touch him. “No, leave me, just leave me, go…” he muttered, wanting nothing more than to leave the room. His head was cloudy from the medicine and he didn’t think he could have stood up if he wanted to.

“I can’t do that, we have to put the IV back in.”

He looked around him for an escape, panicked to the extreme for _no reason_. He couldn’t figure it out. What was going on? The nurse grabbed for his arm again and he nearly hit him. The nurse frowned at him.

“If you cannot be still, I’m going to restrain your arms for your own safety,” the nurse said calmly. Ichigo wondered if they gave this nurse to people who were violent. But why was he being violent? “And mine.”

At the thought, his heart set up in a trip-hammer rhythm, and he pulled away even further, grimacing as his abdomen ached. “No, just no…I don’t want you to touch me…get away from me…”

“Kurosaki-san, if you don’t settle down I have to sedate you,” the nurse said seriously. Ichigo shook his head.

And with that the panic rising in his chest exploded. He couldn’t contain the sheer terror at the combination of things and he _didn’t know why_ , which was particularly infuriating. He was shoving the nurse away with both hands, nearly to the state of hyperventilating. He vaguely heard voices and he felt someone else grab his other arm and he lashed out, eyes wide and wild. Then he felt the sinking sensation of something sliding into his veins. When had they used a needle? His breathing slowed and he fell backward, staring around him, eyes landing on the frightened face of Orihime and Uryū’s confused face, and he felt for a moment that perhaps they had betrayed him somehow. He growled, and tried to throw off the hands but he glanced down as soft restraints on his wrists held his arms down.

“Off, take them off,” he muttered slowly, his head spinning, yanking at the wrists. “Oh, take them off…” And then the blackness swept in, claiming every semblance of thought that remained.

To say that both Uryū and Orihime were surprised was an understatement. Urahara had contacted them to say that Ichigo was at the main hospital, and to Uryū’s annoyance, he found he was under Ryūken’s care. They had said he’d been attacked by some thugs, and that Tōshirō had been there. He suggested they might go see him, as he was in need of as many of his friends as he could have until he was released and then Orihime would be free to heal up his wounds. The wounds they saw were superficial, cuts and bruising on his face, and they could see stitches peeking out of the neck of the hospital gown. But he’d been acting fine. Annoyed and frustrated but fine. They looked up to see his father in the doorway now.

“What happened, they said he had a panic attack?” Isshin said softly as the nurse worked to replace the IV on his unconscious form. He looked up.

“Ah, Dr. Kurosaki, I apologize. He had to be restrained. He was too panicked to know his surroundings. Your son is surprisingly strong…” the nurse muttered.

Isshin smiled. “Yeah, that is an understatement. He knows how to fight.”

The nurse nodded. “He’s going to be out for the rest of the night, and by then we can deal with his anxiety. I’m sure the psychiatrist will be able to help with that.” He bowed slightly and left the room.

Isshin walked over and brushed a hand over his head sadly. He turned back to Orihime and Uryū.

Orihime shook her head. “What…what happened…I’ve never seen him act like that…”

Isshin sighed and put a hand on her shoulder. “You should probably come with me if you intend to help him through this,” he said softly.

Uryū and Orihime exchanged glances. “What do you mean, Kurosaki-san?” she said softly.

Isshin cleared his throat. “Come on, I’ve sent Karin and Yuzu to stay at a friend’s house for the night so I can deal with him if this continues when he wakes up again, and it might.”

Orihime and Ishida followed him slowly as they heard a familiar voice behind them. “Orhime! Uryū!” came Rukia’s voice. They turned to see that she was practically running and dragging Renji with her toward them.

Isshin looked up and nodded silently knowing that Tōshirō had returned to Soul Society and gave his report to the captains. However, he didn’t know how much Rukia and Renji knew yet about the exact situation. He sighed and waved all four into a private waiting room and sat down at the table.

“Kurosaki-san, what is happening?” Orihime asked sitting down.

He looked at Renji and Rukia. “What did you hear from Tōshirō?”

Renji and Rukia shook their heads. Rukia spoke up. “He said that there had been an incident in the World of the Living and Ichigo had been hurt. He’d also been injured but he is healed now. He asked Ukitake-taichou and Nii-sama if we could come across to see if we could help him.”

Isshin nodded. “Once he’s out of here tomorrow, I’ll take him home to heal him properly, Orihime. I’d use my own kido, but it would seem out of place if he suddenly healed with no reason while we’re still here, even with Ryūken as his doctor. Because he knows about us, I requested he take Ichigo’s case.”

Uryū was looking at Isshin curiously. Isshin smiled. “You know, Ichigo’s mother was a Quincy, Uryū. I don’t think I ever told you. She was friends with your mother, and she was the last of the Kurosaki line of Quincies. So, I know your father well, Uryū. He never particularly liked me, I don’t think…” he muttered.

“Kuchiki-taichou said that Ichigo had been injured and that Tōshirō had been as well, and requested that Rukia and I come to make sure things were stable on this end and that there were no issues that we needed to clean up in case there were witnesses to Tōshirō’s actions,” Renji said quickly. “But he didn’t say what happened, and Tōshirō wouldn’t talk to us at all. He seemed rather distant.”

Isshin sighed. “Ichigo is suffering from trauma induced amnesia but that will fade, and as you two saw, it will fade violently. His memories of the incident will come back in pieces and panic attacks will be likely during that time. The surgery Ryūken performed was to stitch internal bleeding until we could get him out into either Tessai or Orihime’s healing. He was in rough shape when we found him, a lot of blood loss and overdosed on ketamine.”

“He said that, to the officer, he remembered a needle…” Orihime said.

Isshin glanced at her. “Officer? What the hell, I _told_ them to leave him alone tonight, no wonder he had a full-blown panic attack.” Isshin growled and pulled his cell phone from his pocket.

Isshin dialed a number then as soon as someone answered started speaking. “I thought I was clear, no questioning at this time,” he said, and they could tell that there was barely contained anger in his voice. “I don’t care if you have a case to work.” There was a long pause. “Your officer and his questions triggered a panic attack and possible relapse which is not going to help your case at all. His statement isn’t going to do much if he can’t remember a damn thing.” Isshin’s face was steadily growing darker. “I don’t care. He’s my son, and I’ll decide when you have access to him. He can’t even remember what happened now. You have the other boy’s account.” Again, a gritting of teeth. “I am going to insist you leave him alone until I agree to let your officers question him.” Isshin’s control was steadily slipping. “I’m not going to say it again. You don’t need his statement to put them away, you have more than enough to keep them for now.” He rubbed the bridge of his nose. “Yes, I understand, but you have all three in custody, and can hold them, right?”

His jaw tightened. “What do you mean it is circumstantial? The kit will come back by tomorrow the DNA results, that is more than enough…are you kidding? What if they…no. Fine. But you’re waiting until he comes out of the current dose of sedative and I intend to be in there when you question him.”

Isshin slammed the clamshell cell shut with a low growl. “I can’t believe this. Until the kit comes back, they say they can’t hold them without Ichigo’s statement. Ichigo can’t even remember it yet. And they’re afraid if they let the bastards go they’ll slip away and we might never be able to prosecute them.”

The other four in the room were quietly mulling over the words. Uryū frowned and snapped up. “Kits? You mean…oh.” His face darkened considerably.

Isshin nodded. “I’m afraid so, Uryū.”

Renji and Rukia, of course, not aware of affairs of the world of the living glanced between each other. “I guess we don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Isshin nodded. “Evidence collection from Ichigo when he came in. They collected samples, finding DNA, and by tomorrow they’ll be sending off the DNA samples to the three men that Tōshirō knocked unconscious. Normally they can hold someone until they come back, but for some reason these guys have a lawyer and a good one. They seemed like low level thugs, but someone is helping them.”

Uryū swallowed. “So, the internal injuries…oh…that’s terrible…that’s…wow.”

Isshin nodded to the boy sadly. “Yeah, a lot of damage and blood loss from it.”

“I’m lost,” Renji admitted. “Evidence collection? Like blood or something?”

Isshin shook his head. “No. Hospitals here use a special kit for sexual assaults.”

“But that means…and Tōshirō…oh…that’s why he’s so upset…” Rukia said softly. “And that’s why Ichigo is acting so weird…”

Renji was frowning. “Okay, but how? I mean, we’re talking both Ichigo and Tōshirō here, neither one of them is any slouch in self-defense here, how could either one let something get that far?”

“Seems they were surprised, drugged, and even though Tōshirō was in Gigai, the drugs affected him enough that he had to use Ichigo’s badge to separate his soul form after breaking his hand to get out of the handcuffs they had secured him with. By that time, it was already over, and Ichigo was unconscious,” Isshin explained, glancing down at his hands, then up when the aforementioned captain opened the door to the room, hands stuffed into a pair of jeans and a plain t-shirt on his Gigai.

“Tōshirō! I didn’t expect you back so soon!” Isshin said as the white-haired captain glanced about the room. Isshin nodded. “I’ve filled them in. Seemed, considering the situation, the best course of action. They’ll be the people he needs to support him as he heals.”

Tōshirō nodded. “Look, Kurosaki, I…”

Isshin shook his head. “There is nothing to be said, but we need to meet the officers that are trying to keep them behind bars. They’re insisting on more detailed statements from you, and direct identification from both of you on pictures. Otherwise, they’ll have to wait until the DNA comes back from the rape kit.”

The word stuck in his throat, having said it the first time instead of beating around the thing that had occurred. He pleaded with the memory of Masaki to forgive him. He led the young captain toward the room where Ichigo was currently sedated.

“What happened, isn’t he awake yet?” Tōshirō asked, frowning, and then noted the wrist restraints. “And why’s he tied down like that?”

“First time he was questioned, he had a panic attack and tried to take the head off the nurse that was trying to fix his IV. He fought with the other one that came in too, so they restrained and sedated him. It couldn’t be helped. He’s a danger to himself and the staff right now, he’s still not fully remembering the incident,” Isshin said, pulling up a seat by the bed to wait. “The sedative should wear off soon, but he’s still under morphine to keep the pain under control and it should mellow him out.”

Again, a soft knock. Isshin looked up to see the two uniformed officers standing there, one male and one female. The male looked familiar.

“Dr. Kurosaki,” the male office said, bowing slightly. “I’m not sure if you remember, but you’ve fixed me up on occasion at the clinic. Ichiro Mizutani. I…I was first responder to the scene.”

Isshin nodded. “I see, and yes I do remember you,” he said with a smile. “I’ve been glad to not have you back in the clinic for injuries lately.”

“They thought maybe, since I was on scene first, and knew you, that it would be better if I did this, and this is an officer form the sexual assault division, Hotaru Mano. I understand that he’s not recovered from the shock, but we really don’t want these guys to flee before we can put them behind bars with certainty,” he said with a nod at the white-haired boy.

“Now, if you don’t mind, Tōshirō, was it?” he said, and he nodded. “I’ve brought a recorder, if you could detail the account from beginning to end of what you witnessed, heard, everything. Once we are done, Ichigo may have awakened and we will try to get as much information against them as we can before the evening is over.”

Tōshirō nodded. He really didn’t want to go over this in detail. The glossed version had been enough when he’d been here earlier, and then what he’d told the head captain had of course omitted the more embarrassing things the substitute Shinigami had endured. And Tōshirō had watched.

He heaved a sigh and began. “We were walking to the clinic, talking about a project, when Kurosaki lurched forward into me and then I felt myself slipping into darkness…”

When Tōshirō was done, he was shaking. Something he never did. Isshin had put an arm around him protectively, which any other day he would have found incredibly annoying (he wasn’t a child, after all), but today he didn’t mind. Comfort was necessary it seemed after this. He glanced over at Ichigo who lay there still unconscious for the most part, though he seemed to be coming out of the sedative slowly. Now and then, his fingers would twitch and his head would move. That was good, he really needed to make sure that he was alright, that he was still here.

“Tōshirō, how old are you?” Hotaru asked suddenly. She’d been quiet so far as he’d told the story. Tōshirō blanked for a second, almost saying his actual soul age, and then he blinked. Ichigo was eighteen, almost nineteen.

“Eighteen,” he said finally, figuring he should look about that old. “Why?”

“How are you handling this?” she continued, ignoring his age.

He blinked and frowned. “I don’t understand, they didn’t do anything to me. Ichigo is the victim.”

“No, you were both victims,” she said with a gentle smile.

Tōshirō blinked, a frown creasing his white brows. “I suppose I was kidnapped with him that makes me a kidnapping victim,” he reasoned. What they had done to Ichigo was far worse.

She shook he head. “No, you are still a victim of a sexual assault, Tōshirō,” she said softly. When he opened his mouth to protest she continued. “You were forced to _watch_ as your friend was hurt. That has its own consequences. And the possibility that you would have been assaulted as well had you not managed to force yourself free. You are young, and this is a formative issue. You need to come to terms with survivor’s guilt as well that comes along with coming out of such a situation relatively unscathed.”

Tōshirō frowned again, shifting in his seat. “Survivor’s guilt?”

She nodded. “You survived without being raped. You managed to get away first. But not before Ichigo suffered. And that will cause guilt and make you feel like there was more you could do. When in truth, you probably saved his life. According to the doctors, the overdose would have killed him in the next hour had you not acted.”

Tōshirō waved his hand. All of this was true for humans. A human couldn’t be blamed for not being able to intervene, but Tōshirō wasn’t human; he was a Shinigami captain and he should have been able to protect Ichigo and save him from this. “The police were already on their way, obviously, someone heard the screams,” he said, remembering to get into Gigai before they got there. He winced at the word. Screams. He’d never heard someone scream like that. No, that was something he’d never heard before. He’d heard death, and he’d heard hollow screams, but the sounds in that warehouse would be the ones that haunted him from now on.

“That doesn’t matter, Tōshirō. You stopped them from doing further damage to him. They had knives, and they cut him. They may have cut his throat next before moving on to deal with you. They were interested in causing him pain,” she said with a sad smile.

Ichigo was still sleeping deeply, so both the officers asked someone to come get them when Ichigo came back to consciousness. The nurse said it wouldn’t be long, so they decided to go to the waiting room and grab a cup of coffee. Isshin told them that he would come retrieve them when Ichigo woke up.

 

* * *


	3. Snowdrifts

There was a startle as Ichigo tried to sit upright and flopped back due to the restraints. His eyes went wide and he yanked hard on them. Tōshirō was glad he was in his human body at that point, and he was also glad he was drugged. He had a feeling even in his human form, Ichigo might have been able to break through those restraints.

“Son, calm down,” Isshin said, putting a hand on his wrist.

“Wha?” he slurred, still confused on the sedative. “Wha, pop?”

Isshin sat down in the chair beside him and ran a hand over his head gently. “Hey, you’re okay; I’m here, son, now please. You’re restrained so you don’t rip out the IV again. They’re giving you saline, a painkiller, and antibiotics, okay?”

Ichigo sighed, his head clearing slowly and remembering the major freak out he had earlier. “M’sorry…” he said, blinking rapidly, trying to clear the fuzz out of his vision.

“Son, you don’t need to be sorry,” he said gently.  

“Can’t deal with the damn nurses…” he said. “You hafta stay and do stuff, can’t deal with them…”

Isshin felt his heart clench. “Okay, son, okay. I will. I’ll go talk to them now…” he said, standing, but his hand was gripped with a vice grip. His eyes were wide and so scared.

“I’ll be right back, but Tōshirō is here, can he sit with you?” he asked gently until Ichigo nodded slowly.

Tōshirō moved up and sat beside him, Isshin putting Tōshirō’s hand into Ichigo’s. Tōshirō looked up at Isshin, confused by this but he nodded at him and left. A few minutes later, he returned with the two officers in tow. Isshin nodded to Tōshirō and the captain squeezed Ichigo’s hand again.

“Ichigo, the police are here…they need a statement so they can keep those guys in jail. I gave mine already…” he said softly, squeezing the hand in an attempt at comfort. He wasn’t particularly used to this sort of thing. Comforting another wasn’t his thing, usually.

Ichigo’s eyes widened a bit and he blinked, tension flowing over him in a wave as he looked up at the two officers standing by the bed. They both pulled chairs to the other side and sat down. Isshin met Toshiro’s eyes and then ducked back out of the room, wanting to give his son privacy.

“Ichigo, I’m sorry about the other officer. He wasn’t good with this sort of thing, but I know your dad and I was the first responder at the scene where we found you and Tōshirō. This is Hotaru, my partner from…another division.” He didn’t want to say out loud because he knew he was suffering memory loss. Best to let it come back naturally than to force it, he thought.

Ichigo nodded. “Okay.”

“What can you tell me about the three guys who kidnapped you and Tōshirō?” he asked.

“Bastards. Gerino, Kenda, and Hino. They’re a gang, and I’ve run into them now and then. I was walking to school a few months ago and they had a girl down in an alley, I heard her screaming and I kicked Gerino in the jaw, and the other two ran. Guess I broke his jaw. And he was pissed about it,” he said, his eyes distant at the memories.

“What happened today?” he continued.

Ichigo’s eyes scrunched. “We were going to my friend Tatsuki’s house, Tōshirō was with me…we were just going to hang out over there with her, watch some movies and stuff,” he said thoughtfully.

Suddenly Ichigo’s breath hitched. Those present looked at him with concern. All the power in the world, and he couldn’t get three street thugs off him and keep them from…from…

It was like a dam broke in his mind. With incredible vivid clarity, everything came crashing into him. Waking up in a drug fog, feeling strange and then them ripping his clothes off him, and Tōshirō screaming and he wondered why he didn’t just get out of his Gigai and _help_ him. The world was spiraling sickeningly and his stomach, though empty lurched against him and he gagged. Tōshirō grabbed a plastic bin and deftly unhooked the hand without the IV in it. Ichigo cradled the bin and dry heaved violently into it, pain lancing through his guts and nothing but bile eventually ejecting itself from his stomach.

He vaguely heard Tōshirō and felt him rubbing his back. It was soothing. He’d always liked Tōshirō…the little captain. He looked so young and yet was so much older than Ichigo. And then he was gagging again, his body rejecting even the very thoughts running through his brain. At the moment he wanted his badge, he wanted out of his human body, and he wanted to Shunpo as far away as he could, but he had no idea where his badge was…

Finally, he fell back, yanking weakly on the arm still attached to the bed as he closed his eyes. “I can’t do this now,” he said finally, brow scrunched in obvious discomfort, swallowing convulsively.

“Ichigo, I’m sorry, but…we need this to keep them in custody…” the man said quietly.

The female officer moved up beside his restrained wrist, knowing full well how often male victims could turn aggressive and violent event towards a woman. She touched his hand softly and felt the flinch so she opted to sit slowly. “Ichigo, my name’s Hotaru, okay, can you tell me what happened? You remembered what happened, didn’t you?”

He swallowed his hand clenching under the restraint and his other gripping the at Toshiro’s tightly. He frowned, eyes closing and nodded.

“We know what Tōshirō told us. And he’s having a difficult time with this, too, just because he couldn’t get free before he did. He managed to get free, breaking his hand in process to try and help you. Now I need you to tell me what happened, or as much as you can remember. I know they drugged you heavily, and you nearly died from the overdose. You need to realize something very clearly, Ichigo. There was no way you could have fought all three of them in the state you were in. It was a sheer miracle that you managed to not die before you got here,” she said, watching the shift of emotions cross his face.

Ichigo looked at Tōshirō. “Did they drug you?” he asked.

Tōshirō nodded. “It seems my metabolism shook it off faster…” he said slowly, hoping that even in Ichigo’s fogged state he understood what he meant by the rather cryptic statement. “But not completely. I couldn’t get out fast enough,” he said, lowering his eyes. Ichigo’s eyes seemed relieved and Tōshirō gathered he had wondered why Tōshirō hadn’t helped sooner.

“Now, if we get this over with, we’ll leave you alone, Ichigo,” Hotaru continued.

“Okay, but…its foggy. I remember waking up and Gerino was talking and I told him some rather choice words, and he stabbed me in the neck with a syringe,” he said, putting a hand to the purple bruise on his neck. “Things got shaky and then he…he ripped my shirt open and cut down my t-shirt. It hurt but not really that much…and he…he…” He paused, brow creasing. “He ripped open my pants, I remember that, the button popping and the material tearing. He’s a strong bastard, nearly broke my foot on his stupid jaw…”

He shook his head. “Then things were fuzzy and swirling around and my face just exploded in pain,” he said, reaching up to touch his bruised nose and lip. He ran a tongue over the stitches his lip had in it. “I felt the blood running down my throat, and I was coughing and choking and then…Gerino was behind me and…” He’d gone pale as he spoke, and looked like he’d start retching again, so Tōshirō grabbed another pan and held it close, just in case.

“I remember pain, so much, it shot up my back like a fire, and it was blood and fire. I felt him _inside_ me, and then the other one, Kenda, I think, he moved in front of me and he did the same thing. I…felt something rip apart inside me…like…I can’t explain it. And then the other one…” He absently reached up and touched his mouth. “Gerino said to stop me from screaming. Was I screaming? I don’t know…and then he was there, forcing himself into my mouth and I was choking again on blood and then he was cutting me with his knife, and they were laughing…”

His eyes had gone unfocused and distant, and his voice was hollow and pained. “I remember him, the taste of it, and I wanted to throw up and he was gone and I remember Tōshirō, saw his hair as I passed out…”

He stopped and was staring at the sheets. “That’s enough,” the male officer said. “Thank you. I know that was hard to do, Ichigo, please, call me if you need anything else,” he said, handing a card to Tōshirō.

Hotaru waited a moment. “Ichigo, you are going to need to talk to someone. What you’ve gone through is severely traumatic. You’ll need help.”

Ichigo shook his head. “I’m…I’m fine…” he said. “I’ll be fine. I just…need some sleep.”

Hotaru nodded and left the room to see Isshin standing outside the room, listening but not wanting to interrupt his son’s story. He looked at her.

“Will he be okay?” he asked softly.

Hotaru sighed and watched as he closed his eyes, but the bound hand trembled in the leather cuff. “I don’t know, he’s a strong boy, Mr. Kurosaki. But this…this can bring even the strongest grown men to their knees. He said that he knew them because he stopped them from attacking a girl in an alley.”

“Ichigo’s like that. Defends others to his last breath…no matter what his own consequences,” he said thoughtfully.

Hotaru nodded. “It would seem he’s going to pay for that. I’d watch him. Male victims spend a lot of time blaming themselves for their inability to defend themselves. They often question their masculinity, sexuality, and as young as he is, who knows if he even knows how to define himself yet.”

Isshin nodded. “I think…I think he knows, but this…I’m not sure. He’s always protected others, and now he needs protecting and healing. And I’m not sure he’ll let me help him.”

She was gone and Isshin watched Tōshirō. He’d come a long way since he’d known him in the tenth. He had only seemed to grow in height in the last couple years, and he was young by Shinigami standards, but he certainly wasn’t a child. He was a prodigy after all. A rare Shinigami. And since then, he had been lonely. He had Rangiku, but Isshin saw the sadness in those bright teal eyes of his former squad member. He’d grown a lot since Isshin had left. And his heart ached for the young Shinigami as well as his son. He only remembered pain in Ichigo’s voice like that once before. When Masaki died.

Isshin went into the room and smiled at the two of them because their hands were intertwined. He paused, frowning to himself to wonder exactly why the captain had been visiting so often. Tōshirō tried to pull his hand away when Isshin entered, but Isshin caught the reflexive clutch Ichigo’s hand on him and he was still, looking at the human curiously. As usual, his son was an enigma to everyone, even himself. His eyes were open and staring at the ceiling.

“Hey, son, are you okay?” he asked, sitting beside him opposite Tōshirō.

“Fine, goat face,” Ichigo said without looking at him.

“Hum, okay, um, you need anything?” he continued.

“No,” he said simply, and closed his eyes. “I…need to sleep I think.”

“I know, son. Is there…can I do anything?” he asked, softly, truly at a loss. He’d been confident a minute ago. He was amazed how fast he’d lost that confidence. Ichigo just shook his head and turned away.

He could deal with a lot of things. But this…this was well beyond his ability to do something about. This wasn’t something they could write off as the cruelty of hollows or renegade Shinigami. No, this was the cruelty of humans… After all Ichigo had done, it would be humans to lay him low…

After a while, he was sleeping deeply, the morphine aiding his rest. Isshin looked over to Tōshirō. “Would you go down to the cafeteria for a drink with me?” he asked softly.

“Will he be okay alone?” Tōshirō asked, glancing at Ichigo.

“Yeah, he’ll be fine, put the wrist strap back on him, though, just in case. I…” Isshin stood and shook his head as Tōshirō replaced the strap. He couldn’t even talk about this correctly. What was wrong with him?

They left and headed down to talk over what had been happening. It was a long talk, so when a nurse came running into the cafeteria with a security guard, he was surprised, and then when they made a beeline for the table he was at, he was afraid.

“Dr. Kurosaki?” the nurse asked, her eyes wide.

“Yes, what is it?” he asked, standing.

“You son…he’s gone…I don’t know…he’s gone!” she said.

Isshin and Tōshirō both ran at full tilt into the room and Isshin froze. Ichigo was not in the room, and nothing had been disturbed other than the bed. The IV had been ripped from him again, and blood was apparent on the sheets. Rather than opened, all four restraints had been broken off, no doubt leaving the cuffs on him. He’d obviously been yanked up out of them. Tōshirō stepped out of his Gigai and walked around while the nurses fretted over his Gigai. Isshin watched him as he cast kido.

“Reiatsu. Strong signature…” he said, looking up. “Hollowish…but not like an Arrancar?” Toshiro knew this. “A Fullbringer,” he whispered and turned toward Isshin.

Isshin closed his eyes and sighed deeply and tipped his head toward the Gigai that the nurse was fretting over. Tōshirō nodded and stepped back in, blinking up at them. “I’m fine, sorry, low blood sugar,” he said, standing up suddenly.

Ryūken came in then and stared at Isshin. “What happened?”

“He’s gone, someone’s kidnapped him…” Isshin answered. The older Quincy frowned. “Someone?”

“Something…” Isshin muttered, running a hand over his short black hair.

-oooooo-OOOOOO-oooooo-

Fumiki was so nervous as she paced in the small wooded area near her house in a suburb of Kyoto. Murai had called to say he was on his way with her prize. This creature was unique and in his uniqueness, he would answer all of her questions. She looked up as Murai appeared beside her. In his arms was a bundle. She gasped and walked up, pulling the sheet down off his face and smiling.

“He looks so young! And so human!” she was practically thrumming with excitement. “I can’t wait to cut into him…”

“We should get him to your secret lab, Fumiki. Just in case I was followed,” he said.

“Of course, I’ll be going over him in detail soon enough.”

Murai nodded, squeezing the medallion in his hand to activate his Fullbring and open the passage into the hollow world. Fumiki followed behind him as he walked through what looked like a tunnel that ran through the “restrictive current” as he’d heard a passing Shinigami call it one time when he was traveling. He heard them call it the Dangai or something. Whatever, he just walked through it. They came out into the world of Hueco Mundo near the cavern system. He waited while Fumiki opened the door and then followed her into her lab. It was large, and white. She came into the room where her other test subject jumped to his feet inside the cage he was locked into.

“Bitch, what are you…wait. What are you doing? You got another Arrancar to cut up on?” the blue haired Arrancar yelled. Murai dropped the unconscious form on the steel table in the middle of the room.

He turned to her. “Two days?” he asked.

“Please. I might not leave then, but come check. I’m ecstatic to be able to have this…this…I don’t know what he even is, but he’s a wonderful test subject. Good on you for finding that gang that wanted to mess with him,” she said as she started removing the sheet. “It made him so much easier to grab, and the psychological trauma will aid me in controlling him where I haven’t been able to control that one,” she said with a sigh.

“Kurosaki?” she heard from the Arrancar. Murai had left and she turned back to Grimmjow where he gripped the bars of the cell he was in.

“You know him?” she asked as she clamped his arms and legs into the table. He was still unconscious.

“What are ya gonna do with him? He’s not an Arrancar.”

“Ah, but he’s more. He had a Fullbring, like me,” she said as she lowered a light from above. “And he’s got that hollowified Zanpakutō spirit. And then I just found out he has Quincy blood…”

“But he’s not even in his soul form! Ya can’t mess with him like that. His human body won’t last here,” Grimmjow said seriously. Even he knew that.

“Don’t worry, he’s not going to be human long. All those extractions of tissue and cells that I took from you are going into him.” Grimmjow stared at her. “Yes, you see, I’m going to combine your hollow attributes with his human ones, and form a physical being that combines both aspects. One that can fully interact in the real world, and one that I can control completely. Including the ability to procreate and create more of the same thing. Well, the offspring will be my ultimate creation. Of course, I’ll have to make you father. The strong dose of your DNA will combine with the new creature I’m creating as him, and the result should be fascinating!” She grinned broadly. “Assuming it lives.”

“Yer fuckin’ crazy, bitch!” Grimmjow shouted.

At the noise, Ichigo groaned and rolled his head to the side, blinking wearily, the effects of the sedative and the morphine making him groggy. White, that was all he saw. Was he still in the hospital? No, good gods his wrists and ankles hurt suddenly and everything that felt numb before was starting to throb including places he didn’t want to think about.

“Where…” he muttered, looking around and seeing a face he was not expecting. He had no idea who this woman as and where he was even.

“What? Who are you? Where am I?” he asked, yanking on his arms and legs, finding both secured.

“Me? Oh, my name is Fumiki. I believe you are Ichigo Kurosaki. I heard of you when you were dealing with Tsukishima. A shame to have your fullbring stole like that, but he was a master,” she said and walked around the table. Ichigo saw that she had brilliant green eyes and her black hair was pulled back in a tight ponytail. “I was fascinated by you when I heard through the other Fullbringers after Xcution was destroyed. So, I considered it, and I found out that you were fascinating.” She moved to the other side and Ichigo heard a noise, and he turned his head.

“Grimmjow?” he asked, seeing him. On the wall to his right was a cell. It had a barred door and he couldn’t see more. Grimmjow was wearing what remained of his shredded uniform form his days as the sixth Espada. He had more scars on his upper body and shoulders, and he was in his resurrección form.

“Yo, looks like we’re both fucked,” Grimmjow said with a shrug. “Bitch stuck me like this, but I can’t get to my power because of whatever she’s imbued this fucking cell with.”

Ichigo turned to her. “I don’t understand. What are you doing?”

“Making the perfect being,” she said with a half-smile. “And we’ll start with this,” she turned away and turned back with a very large syringe full of red liquid. “I distilled it from Grimmjow’s genetic makeup. I’m going to inject it into you, and we’ll see what happens,” she said as she jabbed the needle into his neck.

At first, he didn’t feel anything, then everything turned into fire around him. His body twisted and contorted and it felt like everything in his human body was being shredded to pieces. He couldn’t hear and he just felt like blood was coming from everywhere, his eyes, his ears, his pores, everything. He heard Shiro screaming inside his inner world. Obviously, this was hurting him as well. No matter what, he couldn’t stop the sounds coming from his mouth.

Grimmjow looked away. He looked where he’d been scratching tally marks in one of the walls. His tally was up to 232 days as near as he could tell. It could have been off, of course. It wasn’t like there were distinct days here in Hueco Mundo. He made a mark with his claw under his previous marks and etched one for today. He figured he’d tally how long they were both stuck here.

-oooooo-OOOOOO-oooooo-

_Day 15_

Ichigo woke slowly. It was like dragging his consciousness from the depths of mud, and as he did, the mud clung to him, making it hard to think at all. He groaned and tried to roll over, but found himself stopped by another body. He blinked and found himself staring at a familiar face. He immediately screeched and backed himself right off the futon they were both on.

“Yah, yer awake,” Grimmjow muttered as he sat up, scratching his head. “Ya been asleep for like two weeks,” he explained. “Bitch just dumped you in here and left about a week ago after she was done doing whatever it was. Well, I haven’t seen her, so I guess she left. She could be out there. I dunno.”

Ichigo swallowed thickly and winced, putting his hands on his stomach where he felt like he’d been split in two. His shirt was gone, but he was still in a pair of pajama pants from the hospital. He looked down and realized there was a long incision from the base of his sternum to the top of his pubic bone. “The fuck,” he whispered.

“Can’t remember? That’s good, you screamed yourself horse when she was doing that…” Grimmjow muttered. “Considering you were awake, that’s probably for the best.”

“What…what’s she doing to me?” Ichigo asked.

“Fuck if I know. Those tallies are how long I’ve been here. Well, close as I can come. I might have missed some time when she was fucking pullin’ chunks of my flesh out of me.” Grimmjow shook his head.

Ichigo looked around the cell and frowned. There was a futon against the wall, and then the barred cell door on the other side. There was a partition with a toilet and bath behind it now that he could see. A tiny table with two chairs sat in the center. All the walls were white, and everything in it was white. Ichigo thought Las Noches was bad… For a while, Ichigo sat against the wall until a noise caught their attention. In the silence of the cell, there was a hissing sound.

Ichigo stayed in the corner and then felt something wash over him as a flush went up his body. “Ah, what…”

Grimmjow blinked and shook his head. He turned to him. “The fuck is that?”

“I feel weird. Why do I feel hot?” he asked.

“Good,” came Fumiki’s voice from outside the cell. “Good, it seems that it took.”

“What took?” Ichigo asked, as he looked back to see Grimmjow as just staring at him. “What…why’s he doing that?”

“Pheromones. I’ve activated a pheromone producing gland that I extracted from Grimmjow’s biology. It’s a mating instinct that’s triggered in the alpha males around you. I had to do something to get Grimmjow here on board with the program of inseminating the new womb I implanted,” she said with a smirk. “Honestly, do you have any idea how much easier this would have been if you had just been a female already?” She shook her head in exasperation. “As it was, I’ve had to try to figure out how to rework male biology for this. I still am not sure it won’t be a disaster, but that’s why we have to experiment.”

Ichigo’s eyes went wide and he shook his head. She disappeared and he looked up to see Grimmjow coming toward him. He put up his hands. “No, stop!”

Grimmjow, though, didn’t hear him. In fact, he had one drive, and that was to answer the animal call that had been issued.

“What…what have you done to me…” Ichigo screamed out at her, heaving a hard breath. He couldn’t really hear Shiro, and he didn’t sense things around him.

“Sealed you in that body,” she said from the outside room. Ichigo couldn’t see her, but she was obviously near. “I need the human DNA as a basis for the transformations. But why don’t you enjoy some private time with Grimmjow? When he comes out of it, he’ll likely be upset. I’ve never encountered a male so resistant to the thought of sticking his penis in something.”

Grimmjow moved faster than Ichigo expected, moving to kneel in front of him where he cowered against the wall. He reached out and grinned. He was pinned now, Grimmjow above him, wrists pinned against the wall over his head. Grimmjow had planted a knee on either side of his hips, and Ichigo’s breath caught again. Ichigo felt his eyes widen as Grimmjow stared at him with that predatory expression, and he yanked hard against Grimmjow’s hands. There was not a half an inch of give. It was as though he had all of his strength and Ichigo had the strength of a human.

“Please, no, what are you doing? Stop, Grimmjow!” he said, eyes shifting around the room. Fumiki wasn’t outside the door anymore. “Come out of it!”

Grimmjow put a hand on Ichigo’s stomach and began to trail it over the flesh that was exposed. Ichigo gasped as he felt him touch the skin at the dip of his hipbone through the thin pajama pants he was wearing. Grimmjow’s fingers traced the dip down to the crook of his leg and pelvis and he tried to desperately pull his legs closed to keep him from touching there. Grimmjow growled, letting go of his hands before he reached down and yanked Ichigo’s pants off. Ichigo scrambled to get away, only to have Grimmjow grab his ankle and pull him back to him.

“Stop, please, come back to yourself!” Ichigo begged but then the Arrancar was over him, sniffing his hair and petting his back as he pinned him on his stomach to the floor.

Ichigo couldn’t move under his weight as he felt him force his legs apart and slide between them. Anything but this, he thought to himself. He didn’t want this at all, and he didn’t think if Grimmjow had been in his right mind he would do something like this. He nearly yelped as he felt fingers probing him. After a few minutes, Grimmjow moved and Ichigo started to crawl away. He grabbed him by the hair this time and drug him back before slamming into his body with one thrust.

Ichigo did scream then, both from the lancing pain as he felt and the sheer horror at the feeling again. It was just as bad, if not worse. It didn’t take long, a couple thrusts and Grimmjow clamped his teeth into Ichigo’s shoulder, and released inside him. He pulled away and Ichigo felt himself starting to tremble and he couldn’t stop the sobs wracking his body. He didn’t even move from where Grimmjow had pushed him down.

“Wh-what?” he heard Grimmjow say. “The…shit…”

Ichigo flinched as he felt Grimmjow grab him and pull him up into his arms. Grimmjow had a concerned look on his face, especially as he seemed to realize what had happened. “That fucking bitch. Ichigo, I’m sorry, I don’t…I wouldn’t…”

Ichigo had figured as much but he still couldn’t stop the reaction as Grimmjow tightened his hold on him and let him sob. Grimmjow kept saying he was sorry and he would never do that to someone. They sat like that, Grimmjow sitting with his back to the wall and Ichigo curled into his lap, for hours it seemed. Then Fumiki was at the door and Grimmjow growled at her.

“Why?” he asked as Ichigo looked up at her.

“Test run of the pheromone. Success, I would say. Now, for the next round of modifications.” There was a sound of a gas being released and both Ichigo and Grimmjow fell unconscious.

Ichigo’s eyes fluttered open and he was on the table again. He winced as something was injected into his arm. Fumiki smiled and moved around the table, looking at monitors.

“Just a little something to help you see that I want to take care of you, kitten,” she said, brushing a hand over his hair, and Ichigo felt relief flood him fully, and warmth, and it was all connected to…to…his master over him.  Such warmth, he thought, and felt his own identity spiraling away, though it fought and clawed at his consciousness.

 _Don’t listen!_ A tiny voice shouted in his head, but it was so far away, did it matter. _King! King! Please!_ The voice was insistent, but his mind was spiraling into a comfortable place and he felt so nice and happy, and he was floating on a cloud with the only person who loved him…his master… His beautiful master. The only thought that remained when he slipped into the velvet darkness was how much he loved her now…

As he fell asleep, Fumiki smiled, the readings doing exactly as planned. The bodies of humans were so susceptible to alteration like this, especially the brain. A steady dose of this, and a week she wouldn’t need it anymore. She figured it would take that long for him to give up his free will entirely. And the phrase kitten was well earned because the derivative was from Grimmjow, and as a cat hollow, it was going to show up in the conversions. Each week she’d release the pheromone so that Grimmjow could attempt to inseminate the womb she had created. It was perhaps her most impressive manipulation of cells and systems.

_Day 23_

After a week, Grimmjow didn’t recognize him when he was put back in the cell with him. Fumiki had completely rewritten his mind. Grimmjow tried to speak to him, but he soon understood she’d done something to his voice. About halfway through the week he was out in the main room, Grimmjow stopped hearing him scream. He’d hoped that she’d simply quite tormenting him, but it seemed that she’d stopped him from making noises. He would just lie wherever he was placed and now and then would twitch. Grimmjow still tried. He’d put him into his lap and try to get him to interact. Kitten, huh? Fine, he thought to himself. He’d take care of him if that’s what he had to do.

_Day 30_

Grimmjow could tell by the marks on the wall that it had been almost a month now as he looked over at Ichigo curled on the futon. His orange head was soaked in blood because over the last two days, a set of catlike ears had sprouted. His own ears had remained when the new ears grew. It was apparent they were fully functional ears because he saw them twitch and move. He sighed and went to the bath to get a cloth to clean the blood off his head. She might come back tonight or she might not. Whatever changes were happening would happen no matter if she was here or not.

_Day 33_

Grimmjow had awoken to find Ichigo thrashing in what appeared to be absolute agony beside him. It didn’t take much to realize it was because he’d began growing a tail during the night. The entire futon was soaked in blood, and Grimmjow was certain he’d never get the smell out of his nose. He sat with him as a deep hatred and fury settled into his gut. All he wanted to do was get out of this cell and rip that human limb from limb. He would have, but she gassed him every time she opened the door.

He guessed part of the reason was because he considered Ichigo his to take care of in a way. After all, every week, he sent into a nonsensical rutting rage when she activated the pheromones or whatever she did. By the end of the day of what was obvious awful pain, Ichigo fell asleep as Grimmjow held him over his lap. Well, he probably just passed out, but it seemed the growth was done. He was left with a long blue and orange striped tail. He moved Ichigo to a dry sheet on the floor and set about trying to clean up the blood.

_Day 43_

Fumiki was frustrated that Ichigo had fail so far to conceive in her attempts. When she threw Ichigo back in the cell around the forty-third day Ichigo had been there, Grimmjow was stroking his back and realized that he’d even developed an actual purr. He was sure that he couldn’t speak anymore, because he hadn’t heard a sound out of him since the first time she’d thrown him in and made Grimmjow fuck him. He was turning more animal than human as each day passed. He just seemed to get worse.

Now Ichigo laid curled in a corner, and as he lifted his head and Grimmjow blinked to see that the changes had extended to his eyes now, they were wider and slit like a cat.

“Can’t ya talk anymore?” he asked as he sat down beside him.

He furrowed his brown and looked at him blankly before he put his head back down, either not able or willing to answer. Grimmjow stood at the door to the cell when she came back in.

“Just what the fuck are you accomplishing with this?” he snarled.

Fumiki smirked. “Well, I’ve used your hollow attributes to make him look interesting, haven’t I?”

“Look interesting? I thought you were making the perfect being!” Grimmjow yelled at her.

“His progeny will be the perfect being. He’s nothing more than an incubator once you successfully impregnate him,” she commented. “I’ve used a serum to destroy his mind, removed his vocal chords to save my ears, and implanted him with a womb and the pheromone glands. Now, you just must complete the process. I’ll keep forcing you into a rut with him until you succeed,” she said with a smirk.

* * *


	4. Blizzard

 

_Day 36_

“Well, this place looks the same,” Renji groused as they looked across Hueco Mundo.

Rukia glared at him. “You expected it to change?” she asked.

He shook his head. “Nah, just sayin’,” he mumbled as the others stepped out of the passage to the sands.

It had taken almost a month, but they finally had a break. Kurotsuchi and Urahara had managed to work out a way to track the Fullbringer that could cross the restrictive current in the Dangai. They managed to catch him long enough to find out that another Fullbringer named Fumiki had taken Ichigo to her lab in Hueco Mundo. He only said that she was using him as a way to make the “perfect being” that could interact with the world of the Living. They had started to take him to Soul Society when he escaped into the restrictive current, using his power before they could stop him. Since then, he hadn’t moved through the Dangai. They knew he had been coming from Hueco Mundo when they caught him, and had not returned. They hoped that this Fumiki was either still in the World of the Living.

Urahara whipped his hat off and sighed as he looked around. “Whew. Where should we begin?” he asked.

Yoruichi glared at him. “You don’t have any clue what you’re doing, do you?”

Orihime stood behind the Shinigami with Chad and Uryū. Tōshirō and Rangiku were surveying the area around them.

“What’s that?” Tōshirō asked as something that looked like a giant snake came jumping out of the sand in the distance and then disappeared.

“Bawabawa?” Uryū commented as the huge creature came flying toward them. “Wait!” he said as the others who hadn’t encountered them started to draw their weapons. “Friendly!”

The giant worm stopped and an adult Nel slid down to the sand followed by her two followers. “Why are you here?” she said as she stopped in front of them. “Is Itsygo with you?” she asked, looking around.

Rukia came up to her. “Ah, no, he’s why we’re here. There was an incident and he was kidnapped, and we think he’s here in Hueco Mundo.”

Nel frowned. “Really? Itsygo is missing too?”

“Too?” Tōshirō asked, stepping forward.

“Yeah, I’m taking another trip to see if I can find Grimmjow. He’s been gone for months now, and no one knows what happened to him,” she said as Pesche and Dondochakka looked around at them. “Bawabawa can carry everyone. Tier is at Las Noches with the others that live with us.”

In short order, everyone was loaded up on Bawabawa and they were zipping through the sands of Hueco Mundo and approaching Las Noches. At the gate, Nel led them inside to a large communal living space where a lot of unfamiliar Arrancar were milling around. She took them to door nearby and knocked.

“Enter,” came a female voice from the other side.

“Tier, we have guests, though I’m sure that’s no surprise,” Nel said as she entered and sat down in a chair to the side.

The room was a big space with a desk and chair in the center surrounded by soft chairs and a couch. Franceska, Apacci, and Sun-sun were all lounging around the room while Tier was seated at the desk. “Ah, yeah, I sensed the Reiatsu when they come through. What business do you all have here?” she asked.

Uryū exchanged a look with Renji. For some reason, the atmosphere was tense. Uryū spoke up. “Ah, we came here looking for Ichigo, our friend. He disappeared from the human world, and we think he was taken here by another human. Well, a human with hollow powers like Chad has. They’re called a Fullbringer.”

Tier nodded. “Interesting. What do you know about this human?”

Urahara spoke up now. “Well, Harribel, correct? I remember you from the fight over Karakura Town. I don’t know if you remember me, I’m Kisuke Urahara. From what we can tell, this woman wants to create a ‘perfect being’ and has kidnapped Ichigo to do this. We believe she’s confined and experimented on lesser hollows and souls in the World of the Living. She became partners with a man who had the ability to cross the Dangai, and he helped her build some sort of base, a lab, here in Hueco Mundo. I don’t know the extent of her Fullbring but it has to do with her being able to alter and change the way a body works. She might be trying to do something to Ichigo since his Zanpakutō spirit was hollowified by Aizen. He also had a Fullbring, and we think that’s why he came to her attention.”

Tier was quiet for a while until the dark haired Franceska spoke up. “Could she have done something to Grimmjow?”

Glancing at the other Arrancar she nodded. “If that is true…”

“Pardon, but what happened with Grimmjow?” Renji asked. “Wasn’t he killed by that tall Arrancar that Zaraki-taichou killed off?”

“Your healing captain helped him recover from the wounds Nnoitra gave him. After Aizen fell, Grimmjow took over as ‘king’ like he wanted to. Well, we both took over,” Tier said as she stood up. She turned her gaze back on them after looking through the window for a second. “We were doing well, then several months ago, well, about nine months I believe, he was on reconnaissance to check on some strange readings our researcher Velocity had gotten in the nearby cavern system. He never returned, and when we went to check on the readings he was investigating, there was nothing there at all, and he was gone.” She glanced at Nel. “Ever since then about once a month, Nel makes a round in the sands to look for him. So far, we’ve found no trace. Considering that Grimmjow’s power has only increased since Aizen’s fall, it is worrisome.” She looked at him for a minute. “I supposed by your surprise he hadn’t escaped into the World of the Living.”

“That was our last hope to find him other than somewhere here,” Apacci said and sighed. “Where else could he have gone that we can’t find him?”

“What if this…human…” Sung-sun said with a sneer. “What if she has him?”

“How could he have been captured by a human?” Apacci snapped at her. “That’s ridiculous.”

“She captured Ichigo,” Tōshirō whispered from his position by the door.

Tier looked up and smiled. “Well, you’ve grown up, tiny captain,” she commented. “Last I saw you, you were half your size. You’ve grown in three years.”

“Yeah, but we need to find this woman. Ichigo’s been gone a month and a half,” Tōshirō said and looked away.

“Grimmjow’s been gone around ten months,” Sung-sun said quietly as she looked around at the others.

“We should start where those mystery readings were coming from,” Urahara said. “Would some of you like to come?”

“I know a few, but I’m certain Nel will take you on Bawabawa. Far faster than your Shunpo or our sonido,” Tier said as she stood up. “Will you leave immediately if you find him or return here first?”

Urahara thought for a few minutes. “Do you have medical and research facilities that are functional?”

Tier walked around toward the door. “Of course. Our researcher and doctor are very good. Unlike Szayelaporro, they are not mad. Well, I as mad…” she said as they exited out into the large communal living area. “I’ll send the girls along, and perhaps Imelda and Dima…” she muttered looking around.

The room had changed, now covered in various types of seating from sofas to futons, to mounds of pillows. Among them were Arrancar of all types, and some that were familiar to the Shinigami and humans present. Without Aizen’s influence, it appeared that the Arrancar had created a community of their own. Tier flagged down a tall, thin male Arrancar and a female in a dress of sheer layers.

“Imelda,” Tier said to the female. “And Dima,” she nodded to the male. “These Shinigami came here looking for a human brought here. We think it may be connected to what happened to Grimmjow.”

The Arrancar around them all turned to stare even though her voice was soft. Urahara felt that same tension. It seemed that Grimmjow’s absence had set all of them on edge. Dima brushed his long reddish gold hair back behind his ears and looked out of sorts already.

“Let’s go if we are,” he said and walked toward where Nel was waiting. He paused. “I’m assuming Bawabawa is taking us?” he asked.

Urahara nodded and thanked Harribel, leading the Arrancar that were coming with him along the way.  He noted the stares form the other Arrancar, some of which would jump violently away as they passed. Had this event of Grimmjow disappearing bothered them this much?

“Dima, right?” he asked him. Dima nodded, looking at him. “Ah, it seems that the issue with Grimmjow is serious here.”

Dima nodded glancing at Imelda. “Yeah, we all came to depend on him. He made a good leader for us. He’d fight anything that tried to hurt any of us, and win. He had gotten so strong, and to be honest, something that could take down Grimmjow?”

“We didn’t let Tier leave,” Apacci said from behind them. “We were afraid if something got Grimmjow, they’d get her too. She didn’t like it, but she’s stayed in Las Noches ever since because if something happened to her…”

“As it is, we’re all just waiting for someone to snap in there,” Dima said with a deep sigh, crossing his arms over his chest.

Urahara understood that. Once you got used to having a person to depend on, then they’re gone?

Everyone was soon on Bawabawa with Nel standing at the front as they moved. Imelda stood beside her as  they headed toward the only location they thought might lead to something. Once they were close to the place Velocity had pinpointed, they all slid down and began to spread out and look around. It wasn’t terribly far from Las Noches, but far enough that Las Noches was small in the distance. Urahara cast a kido and waited in confusion.

“This is warded,” he muttered, holding his hands over a rock. He glanced at Yoruichi. “Bring them back, I think I’ve found the entrance.”

While Urahara fumbled with a trinket he’d brought, the others trickled back. Renji came up beside him and frowned. “It…it is a rock, Urahara-san.”

Urahara smiled. “No, watch,” he muttered and slapped the square device he’d just fiddled with on the rock. The minute it contacted it, there was a spark and all around them whatever had been hiding this place faded. They heard two hollow screams of pain and Urahara stumbled backward in surprise. “Ah…what?”

Nel knelt beside the “rock”. The rock was actually some sort of control panel, and on either side of it were two crumpled forms.

“They’re Arrancar,” she said, looking up. “But…what happened to them?”

Urahara knelt on the other side to look at the second. “They’ve been modified. I think they were generating that illusionary field with the resurrección energy…but they barely look sentient…”

The two Arrancar were twisted things. They had no arms, and their faces were both frozen in a look of eternal pain. Bone encased their chests except for a hole in the bone that cords ran out of and attached to the control panel like they were batteries.

Imelda looked them over and back to Urahara. “This is what this human is capable of?”

Urahara nodded, standing up slowly. “You see why we have to stop her.”

There were at least five sets of hollow screeches, and from the empty space between the control panel and what looked like a door installed into a cavern opening, a group of creatures swarmed toward them. Dima glanced at the others and back to Urahara. “You get in that place, we’ll take care of these. Whatever they used to be, they’re not Arrancar anymore. We’ll put them out of their misery,” he whispered, zipping toward them with speed that rivaled Yoruichi.

While the Arrancar dealt with the eight twisted experiments, Urahara and the rest of their group went to the door. He glanced at Chad and smirked. “Do the honors?”

Chad nodded, calling his Fullbring and making short work of the doorway. Urahara looked at Renji and Rukia. He could hear hollows coming from the sands. “Help them, hold off as long as you can. Yoruichi, you and Uryū as well. Uryū, with your bow, you should be able to pick off approaching packs.”

Uryū pushed his glasses up his nose with a nod. “Of course.”

Urahara nodded, glancing toward Tōshirō and Rangiku. “The rest, come on.”

Tōshirō, Rangiku, Urahara, Orihime, and Chad went together through the door. They found themselves in a place that was pure white. They were in a wide entry, and there was a door on each of the other three walls. Urahara sighed. “Rangiku, you and Chad take the left. Orihime, with me on the middle. Tōshirō, can you handle the right alone?” 

“Of course,” he said with a snort as they separated.

Rangiku and Chad went through the door to find a group of barred cells inside a room. All of them contained what looked to be dead Arrancar and hollows. There was a smell like burning flesh. They looked around and then heard the door slam. They turned to see a dark-haired woman in a lab coat.

“One of my brothers,” she said with a smirk upon her dark red lips.

“You are not my sister,” he said, holding up his transformed arm.

“Brute strength type, huh?” she said with a slight pout. “Unfortunate.”

“What have you done here?” Rangiku asked.

Fumiki smirked and stepped out of the shadows, twirling a key around her finger. “Well, can’t make an omlet without breaking egs, you know. These were inferior, but their essences were useful in the current project.”

“You mean Ichigo,” Chad growled.

“Friend of his? I suppose I’m not surprise,” she said with a sigh. “But he’s too far gone for you to save. He’s become a perfect kitten.”

Chad flexed his hand. “What did you do?”

“I decided to have some experiments with human DNA. I took the elements of the hollow animals and integrated it with him. The result is good, very good. Not perfect, of course. Perfection is whatever progeny he can create for me. It was quite ainful, though. I had to remove his voice box during the second round. Also gave him a little something to ruin that nasty free will of his. Nice and quiet and compliant. Especially once the serums took effect and degraded his mind. Since he can’t speak, I’m not sure how much of his personality is left,” she said with a smirk. “Annoyingly, he hasn’t been successfully inseminated to create the second grouping I desire.”

Shaking her head, Rangiku couldn’t understand what she was saying. “Wait, inseminated? Like make him pregnant?”

“Of course. Would have been sooo much easier if he had been female with his unique makeup, hollow, Shinigami, Fullbringer, and that other power signature I was drawing off. As it was I had to implant him with a womb I fashioned and meshed with his soul on the deepest level. Oh, and if you think any of it is reversible, it isn’t. Everything is altered at the level of his soul.”

She turned and looked away. “I suppose you aren’t alone by the sound.”

There was a loud sound and she turned back. “Night,” she said and both Chad and Rangiku felt their head explode in pain and both fell unconscious. Fumiki stepped over them and out, wondering which room the rest had gone. She smirked. Ichigo’s, of course.

-oooooo-OOOOOO-oooooo-

Urahara opened the door and found himself faced with a room full of empty cells. All except one. Inside that cell, there was an Arrancar who stood when they entered. Urahara moved forward with Orihime behind him and opened the lock.

“Thanks, but who are you?” the Arrancar asked as she exited the small cell.

“Kisuke Urahara, and this is Orihime Inoue, and you?” he asked as he doffed his hat for a second.

“Estrella,” she said and frowned. She was a very boyish looking female Arrancar with dark skin and a mask fragment on her temple that looked like an octopus siphon. Her black hair was short but messy. “There were others, lots of others,” she said. “But she came and got them, drugging them and they never came back.”

“What did she do to you?” Orihime asked softly.

“Came and took blood samples a few times, but nothing else,” she said.

Urahara turned when he felt the massive release of reiatsu that was Tōshirō releasing his Bankai. “Oh my,” he said and turned to run back the other way to find out what had happened.

-oooooo-OOOOOO-oooooo-

Tōshirō had come into what looked like a place that was a mixture of a lab and a hospital room. He saw a barred door across the room, and it was obvious the cell took up most the length of the back of the room. From inside it, he couldn’t sense anything. It was as though there was a blank space there. He approached it and peeked inside, eyes widening in shock.

“Grimmjow?” he asked.

There was a futon in the back, and piled into the corner was the Espada Grimmjow in his resurrección form, and in his lap was curled a form that Tōshirō recognized. The tuft of orange hair was a giveaway. Ichigo’s back was to him, but what he noticed was the tail that was curled around Grimmjow as they slept.

“Huh?” Grimmjow muttered, looking at the door and spotting Tōshirō. “The fuck?” he slurred. Tōshirō thought he sounded drugged.

“Grimmjow, get up, we’re getting you and Ichigo out of here.”

“No, no you aren’t,” he heard and spun around to see a woman who must have been this Fumiki they were looking for just inside the doorway. She spun a key on her index finger. “That belongs to me. It is my greatest accomplishment, and until that fucking useless Arrancar impregnates my kitten, neither is going anywhere. I need the issue of that union.”

Tōshirō shook his head. “No, you’re outnumbered, and your twisted creations have been dealt with by the Arrancar from Las Noches and our people. They are leaving.”

Tōshirō felt a sudden tightening in his chest. “What…”

“Gas, I have jets all over this place. You won’t last long with that poison in your lungs,” she said, the key clicking as she spun it the other way. He frowned. That was her focus. He had to separate it from her.

He growled and called his Bankai, rising above the floor, the poison forced from his lungs. She took a step back and glared at him. He snarled. “I don’t think so.”

Behind her the door opened and Tōshirō saw Urahara, Orihime, and another Arrancar run into the room. Fumiki took off and disappeared _through_ the wall before Urahara could get her. Tōshirō let his Bankai fade and tried to open the cell. Urahara put his hands on him to pull him away as he set to unlocking it himself. After a few minutes, Urahara had figured out how to get through her protections. When it popped open, Grimmjow stood with Ichigo and walked toward them. He held onto Ichigo’s body and looked at them.

“’Magine that, rescued by Shinigami,” he muttered but Tōshirō could see he was unsteady.

Tōshirō reached for Ichigo and Grimmjow numbly handed him over before he collapsed in heap. Urahara checked him and then stood to see Ichigo’s transformed appearance. “We should take him to Las Noches.”

Orihime used her shield to see if he was in immediate danger but she shook her head. “No danger to him.”

They exited the room into the larger entrance and saw Rangiku and Chad come groggily out of the other room. Everyone exited and found that the Arrancar were just finishing off what looked to be a large charge of adjunca and menos hollows that had been called to the place somehow. Dima and Imelda came running when Urahara put Grimmjow down on the back of Bawabawa. He asked everyone to wait until they could get them both to Las Noches to see what was wrong with them.

-oooooo-OOOOOO-oooooo-

Once back at Las Noches, both Grimmjow and Ichigo were taken to the medical bay and placed on futons in a small room. They had no immediate injuries, and the ones that Orihime could detect were confounding. Kriya and Velocity, the medic and researcher, were present to see if they could help. Kriya at first appeared to be a male Arrancar to Tōshirō’s eyes. He soon found she was actually female. She stood over six feet, and wore atypically world of the living men’s suit. Beside her, a timid looking Arrancar male named Moab Dali was her constant companion. He wore suits as well, but his dress was black and in something more like a tuxedo than the two-piece suit Kriya wore. She was now staring at Ichigo with a frown. Her brassy colored hair mixed in with the spikey mask fragment on her skull.  

“This is nothing like I’ve ever seen,” she muttered as she used her kido to examine Ichigo. When he asked, Tōshirō found that she’d channeled her resurrección into a kind of healing ability rather than changing forms.

Velocity stood beside her and looked equally perplexed. This Arrancar was fascinating, Tōshirō thought. She looked like a mad scientist with her longish black hair all over her head. It looked like a black explosion set off there. She reminded Tōshirō of Isshin because she wore a bright Hawaiian shirt that was peach with blue flowers. She was dressed in a long black dress that brushed the floor, but she also had a red tie on. When he asked, she’d told him that she was actually male and female, having been created when two hollows combined with each other. The fact that something like that could happen to them worried Tōshirō, because in a way, that Fullbringer was trying to do exactly that to Ichigo.

Velocity ran a few other tests with a few machines in the room and sighed. She turned to Grimmjow.

“Do you know what’s happening with him?” Tōshirō asked from where he stood against the wall. He had no idea why he was in here, the others had left already.

Kriya glanced over to the Arrancar too. “From what I can tell, whatever she was trying to do caused him to shut down. He’s had a lot of blood and tissue removed, and it looks like he was forced into his resurrección form for most the time he was gone. That alone is taxing. I’m surprised that he was conscious at all when you found him.”

Velocity glanced at Kriya. “Let’s let them rest. We can go over these readings and decide if the human woman should attempt to reverse any changes on the boy.”

They left, seemingly not noticing Tōshirō’s presence. He shook his head, thinking maybe they wanted him to stay after all. Tōshirō didn’t want to leave Ichigo, anyway. Ever since he disappeared form the World of the Living, an ache had settled in his chest he couldn’t explain. He didn’t want to admit how much he’d missed him. Several hours later, Tōshirō had been falling asleep when movement on the futon beside him caught his attention. He looked to see Ichigo was awake and staring at him. Tōshirō was taken by the changes. His brown eyes were slit like a cat, and the soft orange ears were…cute. So was the waving tail that obviously wasn’t just for appearances. He had a thick band of metal around his neck. Velocity said she thought it was acting as a seal on his powers.

“Ichigo, can you hear me?” he asked.

Ichigo stared at him, brow furrowing, and looking around him. Tōshirō suddenly clapped and he jumped. “Okay, you can hear fine,” he said, watching. “But you can’t understand what I’m saying, can you?”

Ichigo got out from under the cover and moved to sit against the wall, pulling legs in close and crossing his hands over into his lap. He dropped his head down and stared at his hands. Obviously, this was how he was told to sit; Tōshirō thought as he got up and moved over toward him. He put a finger under Ichigo’s chin and lifted his face back up.

“Ichigo, I’m going to figure out how to help fix this,” he said with a soft smile.

The big brown eyes looked so lost and then he saw tears welling. Tōshirō gasped. Was there something of him left or was this a reaction of being taken from that horrible woman? Tōshirō sighed and gently pet a hand across his head, and to his surprise, he started to purr. Well, the animal transformation was pretty far along, it seemed then. He slowly sat down and Ichigo’s eyes followed him and he then lay down and put his head on Tōshirō’s lap. Tōshirō hesitated but continued to pet through his hair. He wondered if they reversed this if Ichigo would have any memory. He hoped not. He really hoped not…

* * *


	5. Hailstorm

 

Tōshirō awoke with a start when he heard movement in the room. He looked up to see Velocity and Kriya had returned and were kneeling beside Grimmjow. They were having a whispered conversation that Tōshirō couldn’t understand but it seemed they came to an agreement. Velocity pulled a syringe out of her pocked and stabbed it into Grimmjow’s chest. Tōshirō flinched but whatever it was seemed to work because Grimmjow gasped and sat up. He looked down at the protruding syringe and yanked it out. He didn’t look good, but at least he was conscious.

“Grimmjow-sama,” Kriya said. “Good, you’re awake, you’ve been out since we brought you back yesterday.”

He shook his head and glanced over to the other futon and pushed Velocity aside as he went around her. Tōshirō, who was leaning against the wall with Ichigo’s head still in his lap. He’d fallen asleep that way and slept all night. Grimmjow sneered at him as he crawled over and lifted Ichigo up into his lap. He brushed a surprisingly gentle hand over Ichigo’s head, sighing.

“Um, Grimmjow-sama, we’re not done…”

“Go on, figure out how to fix him, I’m fine,” he growled at them with narrowed glance. “She just kept me in Resurrección and I was drained of energy. Him, she fucked him up.”

Both the Arrancar nodded and left. Grimmjow looked at Tōshirō. “Why are you in here?”

“I was with Kurosaki when he got hurt in the World of the Living. I feel like it is my responsibility to keep an eye on him. If I had been able to protect him there, maybe none of this would have happen. It was my fault she was able to get to him,” Tōshirō didn’t know why he was saying it but he was.

Grimmjow shook his head and looked up as the two Arrancar looked up. With them were Urahara and Orihime. “Grimmjow-san,” Urahara said as he came and knelt in front of him. “Good to see you awake. Perhaps you can fill in some gaps in what has occurred.”

“That bitch was fucking crazy, that’s what occurred,” Grimmjow muttered, pulling Ichigo up and putting his chin against his own shoulder. Ichigo snuggled into him and sighed, tail twitching in his sleep.

Velocity and Kriya exchanged glances. Kriya cleared her throat. “From what we understand, she was using Arrancar blood and tissue to try and convert him into something else. A hybrid of some sort?”   

“First,” Urahara said with an exhausted sounding sigh. “We need to see if we can separate him from his body. I think this collar might be sealing him,” he said as he reached down and unclasped it.

Once the collar was gone, Urahara left him to lean against Grimmjow and pulled on the glove. He pressed against Ichigo’s forehead and found there to be resistance like he’d never seen before. He pressed harder, using his own energy to push through, but Ichigo suddenly came away and started flailing, face pinched in obvious pain. Urahara pulled his hand back immediately, sensing the sudden rise in Grimmjow’s Reiatsu. Grimmjow turned a glare onto him and Urahara popped his fan open in front of his face.

“No good like that, but we have to do it. I can already sense his human body is starting to degrade.”

Ichigo was clinging to Grimmjow now, staring at Urahara with wide eyes. Urahara motioned Orihime over toward him. “Here, cast your shield, I’m going to try and push again. If it doesn’t work we’ll leave it for now,” he muttered.

Orihime did as instructed and Urahara pressed his hand against Ichigo’s forehead again, despite the glare he was receiving from Grimmjow. “Don’t worry, Mama Grimmy-chan. I won’t hurt him.”

There was a flash this time and Urahara nearly fell over with him as Ichigo’s soul form fell backward. Urahara sat up and they all watched as the human form Ichigo had been in just evaporated in a puff of smoke. Grimmjow stared at his now empty arms and looked over to Ichigo had fallen out of the body on his back.  She hadn’t been lying. The changes weren’t to the physical body at all. His spirit form retained all the changes, and for some reason, he had no Shihakuso or Zanpakutō any longer in spirit form. Somehow all the changes had actually been done to the spiritual body and the human body had only been reflecting them. Ichigo scrambled into Grimmjow’s lap again, burying his head in Grimmjow’s neck. Grimmjow set to petting his back as everyone watched.

“This just go even more complicated,” he said softly. “Orihime, let’s see what you can do.”

She nodded, and he saw that her hands were shaking. “Shh, I’m not sure what you’ll be able to do; it depends on what she did. She’s altered the very nature of his spiritual body. So, let’s just try.”

She nodded and called the Sun Sun Rikki and the glow enveloped Ichigo. She held her hands over him and frowned. “It…it isn’t like damage to his body. The changes…I can’t reject them like I can injuries…but I can fix…” she smiled. At least she could fix his voice. She concentrated and healed the damage that had transferred through the human body into the spiritual one.

“Oh dear,” she said softly.

“What is it?” Urahara asked.

“She…she was right. He’s capable of bearing children. She’s implanted something inside him, but not like a normal female womb. This is…twisted into his very soul. There’s spiritual energy running through it, but it belongs to Ichigo. It feeds it and keeps it alive inside him. But it is closed. She said…she said Grimmjow hadn’t been able to make him pregnant, for whatever reason, there’s no…” She blushed and looked at Urahara. “There is no way for it to happen, at least the way it is now. No opening…” she said, looking up at Urahara. “And I can’t reject it. The change is a part of his nature now, so it won’t do anything. It’s like my power sees it as a part of his spiritual body, so there isn’t anything to reject…but there are other damages I can fix.”

“What else, Orihime-san?” he asked, as he watched the golden shield.

“His mind, she did something to it… I’m going to try. So maybe he’ll recognize us and be able to speak to us…” she said softly.

Sometime later, the shield shattered and she leaned back, exhausted. “I can’t do any more. I have done all I can.”

While she worked, Ichigo had fallen asleep against Grimmjow. She left, as did Velocity and Kriya, leaving Urahara and Tōshirō with them.

“I hate her so much,” Grimmjow muttered. “I want to rip her throat out with my teeth and then consume everything, her body, her soul, all of it.”

“I understand,” Urahara said and watched the Arrancar’s reactions.

“I can’t…I can’t count the times she made me violate him, but at first…he fought, like he should have, then he gave up. Her telling me that if I didn’t provide what she wanted, she’d just find someone else to do it. She did something to my head, and I would come out of it afterward. And I wanted to kill her and then myself because I would never fucking rape someone. Never. Fucking tear them limb from limb. But not that. That’s not a fight, that’s just cowardice.” Grimmjow seemed to squeeze him tighter.

Urahara sighed, turning to Tōshirō. “We think she arranged what happened to you in the World of the Living.”

Tōshirō’s eyes went wide. “What?”

“I’ve communicated back with Isshin. He said that the men that assaulted him admitted to having been offered money to go through with it. Their instructions were to ‘make sure he’s weakened’ and the man they described sounds a lot like Murai.”

“Why? Why would…?” Tōshirō’s voice was hitched.

“Weakening him, yeah, she said that. That she couldn’t handle him without his mind being vulnerable,” Grimmjow muttered.

Both Urahara and Tōshirō were startled to hear Ichigo purr suddenly in his sleep. It wasn’t a sound so much as they could feel the vibration in that way. He looked up at Urahara who stood now. “Can we change him back?”

“I think it may be irreversible,” Urahara said after a minute, dropping to crouch before them, brushing a hand over Ichigo’s head softly. “I may be able to make him less…animal-like, and return more of his mental self, but the physical changes may never go away. I’ve sent my data to Kurotsuchi-taichou. Maybe he can give me some ideas. Whatever she did, it bound the changes to his soul form completely. Orihime confirmed this. It was the last bit of confirmation I needed.”

Just then Ichigo sat up from where he was lying in Grimmjow’s lap, stretching stretched his arms over his head. The action was human and catlike at the same time. He blinked for a moment and Urahara smiled at him. His eyes went wide for a second, and he crawled off Grimmjow’s lap. He was in the white yukata of a powerless soul at least, but his tail emerged from a hole in the back. He suddenly made a noise in his throat, and it seemed to scare him. He darted around the room before he let out another strange squeaking sound. He blinked several times, his hands going to his throat. He swallowed and a different sound emerged and he shook his head violently and began to claw at his throat.

“Whoa,” Urahara said, reaching forward and grabbing his hands where the claws had begun to extend, slicing into his throat.

“Ichigo, stop!” Urahara said softly, but he kept fighting against his grip and Urahara could see the skin already reddening where he was holding his arms.

Tōshirō stood and grabbed his wrist and spoke to him this time. “Stop! You’re going to hurt yourself!”  Ichigo blinked and cocked his head to the side and stared at Tōshirō, frozen in place.

Ichigo made the odd noise in his throat again and watched Tōshirō intently, and when nothing happened, he looked around, brows creasing and the ears turning flat on his head. He looked at the Urahara then Grimmjow, then back at Tōshirō and then made the noise again, seeming to experiment with it. As soon as he made it, he looked to Tōshirō.

Urahara dropped his other arm. “He thinks you’re going to punish him for making noise…” he said realizing why he’d reacted to a noise coming from his throat. Tōshirō frowned.

“What?” he said.

“She said she had to take his voice to save her ears,” Grimmjow said from where he now sat against the wall, watching.  “She cut his voice box out because he made too much noise during the experiments. Just what do you think she did to him to keep him quiet before they took that step?” Grimmjow thought these people were awful stupid sometimes. “He’s afraid you’ll be angry if he makes a noise, and somewhere, he remembers that to stop it, she took something out of his throat…so he was trying to do it himself to keep you from lashing out at him. Now you haven’t, so he’s trying to figure out what’s going on.”

“You mean he can remember what happened?” Tōshirō asked, still holding one of his arms.

“Obviously,” Urahara said slowly, standing. “But he can’t react because he’s been conditioned by it. This is going to take longer than I thought to deal with…even if he can physically make sound, he won’t right away.”

Ichigo pulled away and knelt down near Grimmjow, arms crossed over his chest and making the odd noise in his throat every few minutes, as if testing the newly restored vocal chords. It wasn’t entirely a human sound, but not entirely animal either.

“So, she managed to heal his voice, but what about his mind?” Tōshirō asked as he still seemed to be more out of it than anything.

“Makes sense that the recovery will take longer, brains are much more complex than any other portion of the body. Rest, and hopefully we’ll see progress. I have a serum that I’m going to try, at least to stabilize the alterations to his body since they appear to be progressing even now,” Urahara said as he moved toward Ichigo again.

Ichigo started and suddenly seemed afraid as he escaped into Grimmjow’s lap again. Tōshirō moved over and kneeled beside Grimmjow and stroked the back of Ichigo’s head.

“Ichigo, please, you’re fine now,” he said gently. Ichigo turned his face upward, brown eyes sparkling with tears and Tōshirō felt it tug at his heart a bit. Then Ichigo leaped and wrapped his arms and legs completely around Tōshirō’s frame, nearly knocking him to his back. Thankfully, for one, Ichigo seemed to weigh less now, but Tōshirō’s own strength was greater than his body belied. Ichigo buried his head in his neck and made pitifully cute sounds, something between a meow and a whimper. Tōshirō looked at Urahara who shrugged and left the room. Grimmjow had a bemused, if wary grin on his face as he watched. Tōshirō felt like he was being watched by a concerned parent.

Tōshirō put a hand on Ichigo’s back and tried his best to soothe him. Finally he seemed to loosen his grip on him and he sat him back a little, though he wouldn’t release his hold on Tōshirō completely.

“Ichigo…” Tōshirō said softly.

Ichigo grinned at him, a wide grin and something that lit his face up to his eyes. “Kitten love!” he said in a shaky and rough voice.

Tōshirō blinked. “Kitten love?” he replied.

Ichigo’s tail had begun whipping around behind Tōshirō’s back. “Kitten love…master!” he said finally, voice less rough now as he got used to it again, burying his face into Tōshirō’s chest. “Hmm, white dragon master!” he said finally. “Kitten talk to Master?” he asked, tipping his head to the side and staring at Tōshirō with those wide, brown eyes.

“Ichigo, I’m not your master, I’m your friend, remember?” he said. Ichigo blinked, and again, Tōshirō wondered if he even understood the words he was saying.

Ichigo grinned again. “Master’s Kitten happy again,” he said and licked Tōshirō’s face. Tōshirō frowned and Ichigo immediately backed up away from him and lay down on the floor with his face in his hands. “Master angry…”

Tōshirō started to speak, to tell him to stop acting like a damn animal, then sighed. “No, no, please…” he said but still he didn’t move. Grimmjow no longer wore an amused look. Tōshirō thought that the Arrancar might actually try to hurt him if he did anything wrong with Ichigo.

Tōshirō kneeled and pulled his head up. “No, come on, can you try and think? Can you understand me now?”

Ichigo blinked and looked at him for a long time. “Kitten talk. Master face,” he said, reaching out and touching Tōshirō’s face.

“You’re reading my face, you still don’t understand what I’m saying, do you?” he said, brows creasing. Tōshirō sighed and sat down beside him. Ichigo had moved to sit up on his heels with his hands on the ground, staring at him, ears twitching every few minutes.

“So, we got your voice back. Now we just have to get you able to understand again,” Tōshirō said with a sigh.

Ichigo sat got up then and went back to Grimmjow, dropping into his lap. He hummed and proceeded to curl into his lap and fall asleep. Tōshirō wondered how much he was going to sleep. Just as he was about to leave, Urahara came back with Orihime again. He smiled at them.

“He can talk,” Tōshirō said as he stood, dusting his hakama off. “Barely, but he can put a word or two together. From what I can tell he can’t understand anything. When I was talking he said, ‘kitten talk’ and then touched my face and said ‘master face’, so I am thinking he reads facial expressions.”

“Kitten?” Orihime asked.

Tōshirō shrugged. “I guess that’s what that woman called him.”

Grimmjow nodded. “Yeah, she took great pride in her ‘kitten project’.”

With a deep sigh, Urahara leaned against the wall and watched Ichigo as he made a noise in his sleep. “I wish I knew how to fix this. Kurotsuchi-taichou has a couple ideas, but we’re unsure. Maybe we can curb at least the animal instincts that have overridden the human ones. I can’t even fully identify how she did this to him. Her Fullbring seems to have been the ability to change cells, and apparently, soul energies. This isn’t something just anyone can do.”

Orihime put her shield up again and let it work. Repairing a brain was harder than she had anticipated she found. Ichigo opened his eyes and stared at it for a few minutes before he just ignored it. “Sleep,” Ichigo muttered.

Tōshirō sat down and watched as she worked, and when she was finished he started petting Ichigo’s head. He responded with a purr. Grimmjow smiled a little and lifted Ichigo easily and deposited him in Tōshirō’s lap.

“Here, Master. You watch him for a bit, I’ll be back,” Grimmjow said as he stood up and left.

He needed a change of clothes for one thing, but also he just needed to move. He almost ran into Dima in the hallway.

“Grimmjow-sama!” he said, smiling. “You’re awake, I mean, Kriya said you were, but we were told not to bother you!”

“Yeah, whatever, I’m going to the baths and getting fresh clothes. So still don’t bother me, ‘kay?” he growled as he disappeared into one of the baths.

Sitting in the warm bath was the best thing in the world, he realized. So was not being in his resurrección form, he thought to himself. That had been so draining. Then to be forced to do those things. It disgusted him that his body had been used in such a way. He was not a rapist. No. Still, there was a sinking feeling in his gut when he recalled how good it felt to do those things even though he knew they were wrong. He was growing frustrated the long her sat in the water.

“I heard you were walkin’ around,” a voice came from the doorway.

“The fuck?” Grimmjow snarled, turning and staring to see the red headed Shinigami. “What do ya want?” he muttered, turning back.

“I went to visit Tōshirō, he told me what happened,” Renji said as he sat down on the bench along the wall.

Grimmjow shook his head. “Nothing matters about it now, just gotta go forward,” he muttered and decided to just stay in the bath until the redheaded bastard left.

“You coming with us when we take Ichigo to Soul Society?” he asked.

“Nah, you deal with it. I’ll stay here.”

“You don’t want to, though. You want to stay with him,” Renji observed and looked at him.

Grimmjow tipped his head backward. “What do ya mean by that, stupid?”

Renji gave him a half-smile. “You couldn’t help what she made you do, you know. There was no way to stop it. And you want to help him, right?”

“I don’t have the right to help him,” Grimmjow said after a long silence.

“Bein’ used ain’t fun. But you know that Ichigo, once he gets his brain working right, will know the truth. He’ll remember ya didn’t want to, and he’ll appreciate that you are helping him. Yer the only one that knows what happened. Yer the one he will come to when he needs to talk on it,” Renji said and stood. “That is, if yer around.” He turned and left, leaving Grimmjow to think on it.

After an hour or more, Grimmjow finally got out of the bath, putting on a fresh yukata that was lying out, and headed toward his room. He wasn’t sure exactly how long he had been gone, but it was a long time. He stood at the door for a moment before going in. Nothing had been moved but a layer of the damn sand that was everywhere was all over the place. He sighed, sinking into the bed that stood up off the floor and remembering how many times he’d laid here and dreamed up killing Ichigo. Then to watch what had happened to him…

Before he realized it, he’d fallen asleep. His dreams were horrible. Every one of them centered on what he’d done, even if he hadn’t been in control at the time. Every dream was him attacking Ichigo, and the most heart wrenching was the first time he’d turned eyes up on him and the look of pure betrayal on his face. He made him look that way. Possibly the strongest person he’d ever fought, and he’d made him look like that.

He woke up with a shout and sat panting. No, he couldn’t let him go back alone. He was the only one that really knew what that bitch had done to him, and he had to help. He had to take care of him, just like he said he would.

-oooooo-OOOOOO-oooooo-

“Oh, my fuckin’ gods, Zangetsu!” Shiro screamed, zipping around the tilted world madly.

“Getting upset will not further the progress of the situation,” Zangetsu said calmly.

“What are we gonna do, old man?” he asked, sitting down beside him finally.

“We remind him who he is,” Zangetsu said, looking up into the downpour.

Shiro groaned. “I’m tired of the rain.”

Zangetsu sighed again. “As am I, as am I. Orihime is repairing the damage well, so now it is up to us to help repair his soul.”

“Yeah, I know, old man. Ya want me to start out now?” he asked.

Zangetsu nodded. “Find the boxes and open them all, good and bad, we have to flood him with everything that we hid away when that woman tried to destroy his mind.”

“I wasn’t sure about this plan, old man, but I admit, closing off his memories was far more effective than having them erased completely…” Shiro said thoughtfully.

“His soul reaper powers were held when his soul chain and soul sleep were destroyed. This was not difficult. Now, we must begin before the boxes deteriorate into dust like his body did,” Zangetsu said with nod.

Both figures leaped away from each other into the steadily falling rain where boxes of various sizes hung by gossamer strings. Shiro pulled the white Zangetsu and sliced through a large box and watched as the contents exploded outward. His family. He’d wait for the ominous black box he knew was full of the pain and suffering that that bitch had inflicted upon him for last. That way he could rest afterward.

-oooooo-OOOOOO-oooooo-

Ichigo was staring into space when he stumbled and let out a pained noise and fell forward on the futon. Tōshirō moved over to him and lifted his chin up. His eyes were wide and unfocused and filling with tears. Grimmjow also came closer, kneeling beside him and putting a hand on his back. He could sense something happening.

“Yuzu…Karin…Mom?” he whispered, voice shaking at each word. “Mom…no…blood…no…don’t leave me,” he whispered, pulling away and leaning backward. “Pop?” he said, shaking his head and then dropping he head to his hands. “Stop, too much,” he mumbled, holding his hands over his temples. “Ow, ow! Stop!”

There was a pause when he stared into space and then his eyes began to bleed into black and gold. Tōshirō stepped back a bit. The high, strange voice of the hollow came then. “We’re releasing the memories we closed off,” he said. “This will hurt. A lot. All his memories, will all flood back, white captain,” he said, fixing him with an unnerving stare. “We hid everything we could when he attacked his mind. Now it is time to release it before the memories are completely gone.”

His eyes returned to normal and he blinked owlishly for a moment before his back stiffened. “Tatsuki!” he whispered. “Chad…Mizuiro…” he muttered. Tōshirō knew they were his school mates. So that was how he’d been protected. The Zanpakutō spirit...

He screamed, then, eyes squeezed shut, and tears falling. Tōshirō sat down and pulled him into his lap as he sobbed. “Make it stop,” he whimpered into his shoulder. “It hurts!”

Before long, Urahara, Velocity, and Kriya had come in, sensing the reiatsu change, frowning as Tōshirō rocked Ichigo. Grimmjow had moved and was Tōshirō looked up. “The hollow said he was releasing his memories. He said she started degrading his mind they took his memories and hid them, and they have to release them, but they’re all coming at once…”

Urahara sighed and they watched helplessly as wave after wave of what had been locked away crashed over him. Finally, he lay against Tōshirō and panted eyes wide and unseeing still.

“No, not that, not yet, don’t…please, let me forget that…” he whimpered, hands flying to his eyes. “No…” he moaned and then his back arched painfully and he couldn’t find the strength to resist as the memories of everything that had happened since being captured by Gerino’s gang hit him. It crashed into him, sending him spiraling into darkness so deep he wondered if he would ever escape it.


	6. Chipping Away the Ice

**Chapter Six**

_Chipping Away the Ice_

Tōshirō and Grimmjow sat with Ichigo as the world seemed to come unraveled inside and out of his mind. He gasped suddenly, throwing his head back. They watched Ichigo’s eyes go wide and bleed to gold and black, startling everyone around them. He blinked; the change was so complete, even the vertical pupil was gone.

“Fuck!” the strange voice of the hollow said. “He’s blocking us. We can’t release the last of it, the memories of his time there. He won’t let us. Until he accepts them, he’ll stay like this. We need help.”

“How can we help?” Tōshirō asked. He was sitting on his knees in front of where Ichigo had curled up.

“I need one of you, willing to walk his inner world, the other to fight me when I surface,” he said, eyes fluttering. “Quickly, I can’t stay in his consciousness long.”

“I’ll go,” Tōshirō said without thinking and reached out and took Ichigo’s hand, or rather the hollow’s hand.

Vaguely, he heard Urahara saying to wait, but it didn’t matter, there was a flash, and Tōshirō’s body fell back limply, and Ichigo’s eyes bled to brown and white and closed.

When Tōshirō opened his eyes, he found himself staring at Ichigo…no. That wasn’t right. He was staring at a version of Ichigo with white face and skin and the black and gold eyes.

“Oi, there, dragon captain,” came the strange voice. “Welcome to our home.”

Tōshirō sat up, rubbing his head and looked around. It was raining and he was sitting on something that had water standing on it a good two inches. He saw a pole on which a dark clad man stood watching.

“What? Is this his inner world?” he asked, realizing that the world was sideways.

“It is,” the hollow Ichigo said. “Call me Shiro, well fer obvious reasons, dragon captain.”

Tōshirō stood slowly, realizing that the world was stable. “What do you want me to do?”

“Stop the rain,” came the old man’s voice. “I am tired of the rain.”

“Don’t mind him,” Shiro said, rolling his eyes. “Zangetsu gets all gloomy in the rain.”

Tōshirō looked again. “That’s Zangetsu? His Zanpakutō spirit? And what are you?”

“Zangetsu,” Shiro said with a smirk, as though it should be obvious.

When Tōshirō looked confused, Shiro smiled. “Well, I am his Zanpakutō spirit. The Ojiisan is…more the other part of us. We can unite into one being if we need to. So, to make it easy, he’s Zangetsu, and I’m Shiro. Even though we’re both his weapon.”

Tōshirō nodded. He’d never seen someone have two spirits except for those that could dual wield like Ukitake-taichou and Kyōraku-taichou. Did that mean that Ichigo was capable of that feat?

“He’s a badass, you know. You should see how powerful I can be if Zan would let me.”

“He cannot handle the full content of his power, Shiro. You know that. He isn’t even ready for a full release of the Shinigami power he contains,” the figure said, looking up.

“Wait, what does that mean?” Tōshirō asked.

“Means Zan and me, we don’t let him have all his power. He’d burn up,” he said, scratching his chin thoughtfully. “What he uses now is a fraction of what he’s capable of, to be honest. How else could we recede and disguise all his memories to protect his mind? No one has no idea what he’s capable of.”

“Get on with things, Shiro. This plan of yours may kill him, or save him,” Zangetsu said with a sigh.

“Oh, yes, what I need you here for,” he said, grinning wickedly at Tōshirō. “See, King and I have this agreement. He’s tha king and meh, I’m tha horse. So I give him power, but he drives the show. Now, he doesn’t want me to control tha body, because well, I’m a hollow. And there’s a lotta tasty fuckin’ souls around with him, includin’ his friends. He wants to protect them. So, I’m gonna release, fully, take over the body. Your job is to get him to come to his senses and take control back. Which he can do, but to do so he must accept everything, and come through it,” Shiro said with a smile.

“And if his companions just kill you instead?” Zangetsu said.

“They won’t. Not with tha lil’ dragon captain in here.”

“I hope you are correct,” Zangetsu said and looked away from them.

“Wait, how do I even find him?” Tōshirō asked, looking around at nothing but water everywhere around him.

“Follow your heart, ice boy,” Shiro smirked and faded from existence.

“What?” he asked, and then heard the keening of a hollow loud outside the body.

Zangetsu looked at him. “I should think haste would be important, Hitsugaya-taichou.”

Outside the inner world, everyone had backed up when Ichigo’s body began froth at the mouth and eyes, the hollow mask forming over his face. The release of reiatsu brought everyone into the med room, including Urahara, Orihime, Uryū, Chad, and several of the Arrancar. Before long he stood, and was transformed in a way that none of them expected. The chest began to darken and the hollow hole formed, surrounded by thick black lines, his skin turning white. He looked at them, and then between the mask’s horns, a cero began to form. Urahara shielded them with Benehime, and soon, they were all defending against him. Grimmjow had engaged him with his sword and was keeping him focused on fighting him.

“Don’t kill him!” Urahara shouted. “Tōshirō-san is still in his inner world with Ichigo!”

“What the hell is this?” Uryū shouted, leaping out of the way as the ground exploded in front of him with a cero. “The last time he was this thing, he almost killed me! And he was dead!”

“Ichigo’s hollow Zanpakutō spirit must have emerged for some reason!” Urahara answered. “It seems…he’s still capable of releasing to this extent! Try to subdue him!”

Inside, Tōshirō shunpoed over the waters, leaping from building to building. _Follow your heart_ , what kind of crap advice was that? He sighed, scanning the water. Would he be under the water? It wasn’t like regular water, after all, it was his inner world. So there had to be somewhere he was hiding…somewhere safe. Where would Ichigo feel safest? Where was his heart? He paused. Wait. This wasn’t Ichigo as he was. This was Ichigo as he’d become. So where did he feel the safest _now_. After Fumiki had gotten done with him…

Tōshirō realized it was him. Ichigo had clung to him. It began with him being attacked in the human world. It had been Tōshirō who had been there through the trauma and who he’d reached for, the only person who would understand. And then he’d taken him from that and since then he’d instinctively gravitated toward him. He also went to Grimmjow, but after what Grimmjow had been forced to do to him, Tōshirō was the safer of the two. Tōshirō hadn’t hurt him. And protected. He felt small and weak and…like a kitten.

Tōshirō could have slapped himself. Of course. He was looking for Ichigo. As a human, he should be looking for Ichigo as a kitten… The kitten didn’t have to worry about things like pain and what had happened to him. The kitten was an animal with nothing but instincts and it was safe and protected. Tōshirō took off again, this time, looking for a much smaller target. There.

He dove beneath the waters and found himself bursting through into a room. A small, orange kitten sat on a lap, but the rest of the figure was indistinct. Pale hands held it in place, and it purred in contentedness. Tōshirō sighed.

“Ichigo!” he called. The kitten lifted its head and stared. “Please, come with me. I’ll stay with you, I’ll hold onto you while the memories come back, I will, okay, but the others they’re in danger…your hollow spirit, he took control, he said he’d be the king now,” and Tōshirō watched as the kitten stood, fur bristling on his back. Good, he had some thought left.

“I’ll hold you, nothing will hurt you,” he said softly and the kitten came to him slowly. Tōshirō gathered him up and swam through the water to break the surface. He leaped up to the surface and shunpoed back to where Zangetsu stood.

“Now,” Zangetsu said, and the water rose and crashed over Tōshirō and the tiny orange kitten he held. He held on tight, though, refusing to be separated as a flood covered them.

_His eyes were wide. He woke slowly again and he was just given the first shot of the whatever it was. His body was filled with pain he couldn’t understand. He felt there was something in his mouth, like a leather bit or something._

_“Time to do this part…I am so excited about this,” she said and held up a large cylinder with something that looked to be made of flesh inside it. “I made it like a female’s womb, but we’ll see how well it implants into that body. Of course, the physical part isn’t the important one. The fact that it will integrate with your soul…that’s the important component.”_

_She put down the jar and then strapped his body down again, and pulled off his clothes, baring his stomach._

_“The procedure is simple. I implant this and once I attach it, it meshes with your spiritual energy and becomes like an artificial womb. Implantation should take place like with a female, like the way Arrancar’s mate which isn’t dependent on sex but on strength of reiatsu. The reaction, once implantation of foreign reiatsu should trigger a birthing canal to be generated. It will remain sealed until the birthing process begins. Considering the combination with feline structures, though, I’m unsure of the nature of any young or how many would be produced. But young you will have.”_

_She then cut into him, opening his belly beginning at the base of his sternum and cutting down the whole of him to the pubic bone. He screamed into the bit until his throat bled. His arms were clenched hard and he could feel the strain on his leg muscles. Something felt strange and he found himself watching through his tear-filled eyes as she moved things around inside him. Finally, he pressed something into him that made him see white. Then, warmth spread throughout his abdomen and he was done. She moved her hands over his stomach, the key spinning on her finger. A strange sensation roiled over him._

_“Now, for this,” she said and turned away for a second. She turned back with something that looked like a small ball of flesh. She moved to an area on his neck and cut into that. He screamed again but he couldn’t move at all. She slipped whatever it was into him and again, seemed to seal it somehow._

_Lancing pain shot through him and his eyes watered. In his neck and stomach everything hurt as the things she put into him started to grow and change inside._

_“Now, as far as what can impregnate you, only something with high reiatsu can implant the chamber. It has to be powerful to combine and make the perfect being,” she said with a nod. “And I’m not certain it if can happen at all in this human body. Grimmjow’s power is great, so he is the perfect candidate. With the changes made by using his tissue, it will make an even greater creature.”_

Tōshirō winced, holding the now larger form in his arms. He glanced; the tiny kitten had become larger, almost filling his arms now. Good, that meant it was working. The animal was receding. He jerked as another wave crashed over them.

_“Stop!” Ichigo’s voice was strained. He was strapped to a metal table, arms and legs restrained, and the woman leaned over._

_“It won’t hurt, much,” she said, pressing a syringe into his neck._

_The pain crashed over him, like his very body was being yanked apart at the cellular level, which of course it was. Fumiki frowned at him._

_“Oi, shut up,” she said, forcing a gag into his mouth to try and stop the tortured screams. “Seriously, shut up, I can’t think with the noise.”_

_But he couldn’t. The pain was so incredible he couldn’t stop crying out and weeping from it. Everything hurt, bones and muscles and organs. She turned glaring eyes on him. “Fine, I’ll just remove his vocal chords. It will only be worse later,” she said with a sigh._

_She turned away, then back. She leaned over, scalpel in hand and sliced into his neck. The pain was sharp, but nothing compared to every part of him being rewritten. He didn’t realize when the sound stopped, but it did, but he was still screaming. But no sound emerged and blood dripped form his mouth. She held up a key and spun it around her finger and suddenly the sharp pain in his throat changed as she manipulated the cells inside it to heal faster._

Tōshirō winced again; the catlike body was changing again, becoming more human, but still not quite all the way. Between the larger memories, smaller ones crashed into them, but the most painful ones were the ones that triggered transformation. Ichigo’s body looked closer to what it had become as a large wave headed toward them. Tōshirō held on tightly.

_Why can’t I think straight, he thought as he shook his head mournfully. His thoughts were scattered and he couldn’t remember anymore where he was before he was here in this hell. His hands were bloody when he woke to find that there were claws now in his fingers. He realized that he had a tail now that whipped around him. When did that happen? He thought that had to hurt. He touched it and flinched. The flesh on the appendage was tender and sensitive. He was sitting on the floor now beside the futon. He turned and saw Grimmjow watching him. His head hurt too. He reached up and flinched again as he touched something on the top of his head. He had a second set of ears, shaped like triangles, Cat. He was turning into a cat?_

_He swallowed and looked up to see the woman was standing at the cell door. She was staring at him._

_“Kitten…new…tail…ears…claws…grown…how…” she spoke but half the words he couldn’t understand._

_Ichigo was scared and escaped into Grimmjow’s lap. He pet him for a moment, but then he growled. Ichigo turned his face up to see Grimmjow’s eyes had changed. He threw him off his lap and pushed him down. Grabbing his tail, Grimmjow pulled his hips upward to meet him. Ichigo cried out in silence, but it didn’t matter. Moments later, Grimmjow cradled him and told him how sorry he was. Ichigo was confused._

Tōshirō flinched under the increased weight of the body against him. He was almost human, now, looking like he had when he found him. Maybe he would become human completely by the end of the process?

_The rest of the memories now were a combination of all the times Grimmjow had taken him, and all the things that Fumiki had shot him with that made him writhe in agony. There was no specific huge event, but there were many small ones._

_The worst thing, though, was the feeling of shame at what had happened. The loneliness and pain that came with hiving been ripped apart. He loved Grimmjow, but he feared him at the same time. His mind couldn’t understand this strange thing that had happened. And all the wall, he wanted to see Tōshirō again. Perhaps that thought was the one that shocked the young captain the most._

Tōshirō felt himself impact the ground. And he gasped. It wasn’t wet. He sat up and Ichigo, in his normal Shinigami form was lying beside him. He rolled him over and he gasped, eyes wide and blinking.

“Ichigo!” he called.

“Tōshirō?” he asked, brows knitting together in confusion. “Why are you here?”

“One more memory,” Zangetsu said, and Tōshirō looked up to see him holding an ice encased box. He handed it to Tōshirō. “One you must open.”

Tōshirō nodded, and sliced open the ice, and everything that happened involving Tōshirō went slamming out of the box into Ichigo. Ichigo gasped and blinked. For a moment, he looked like he was going to panic but then Ichigo’s head snapped upward to the sky that was starting to clear.

“Shiro!” he said, finally leaping to his feet. “Dammit!” he cursed. “You’re going to kill someone!” He stood, his body shifting into his Bankai. “I swear, you’ll never come out if you hurt anyone!”

A cackling laugh came. “Oh? That so King? You want control, take it back.”

Ichigo faded from sight and Tōshirō looked up to see Zangetsu with a subtle smirk on his face. “He’ll need you. He needs protection, from himself. And he’ll come to you.”

“But why?” he asked.

“Despite it all, he’s always loved you. Otherwise he wouldn’t call you Tōshirō. Only those he respects greatly get that distinction from Ichigo. Now, go and heal him,” he said and Tōshirō sat up with a gasp to see the rest of the group having obviously been in a battle with the hollow form of Ichigo. The mad laughter rang out.

“No, not good enough, King!” he screamed, and the others had all backed away. Tōshirō got up and waved at them.

“Leave him!” he called. Urahara looked at him and asked, “What is it?”

“Ichigo’s reasserting control. I found him, gave him his memories back, and now he’s trying to wrest control back. His hollow planned this…the only way to get him to come back was to protect you from the hollow. The hollow has no intention of staying in control,” Tōshirō said, moving over to where the others were. Grimmjow continued to engage him blade to blade, but it was obvious he had no intention of hurting him, even like this.

The internal battle seemed to stall as Ichigo suddenly stopped and stood still, teetering between inner and outer worlds. Finally, the hollow’s mask shattered, revealing the white faced Ichigo. “Ah, King, welcome back,” he said and the eyes returned to Ichigo’s brown ones. Tōshirō winced, though, because they were still cat’s eyes. The white began to bleed away and the ears and tail both returned before he fell to his knees, sword falling from his hands.

Tōshirō flashed forward and caught him as he fell, breathing hard. He turned him to lie on his back and he looked up at him. “Tōshirō,” he said softly. “Thank you,” he said and passed out cold again.

“I think we should let him sleep now,” Urahara said.

Everyone except Grimmjow and Tōshirō left for a while. In an hour or so, Kriya and Velocity returned to run some tests, and then Urahara returned. Tōshirō sat down with him and gave him a description of what he’d seen in Ichigo’s memories. Grimmjow listened, head bowed. He, of course, had heard some of those things.

“It fits with the test results,” Urahara said with a sigh. “I can’t find a way to reverse engineer the changes without doing irreparable damage to his soul form. Kurotsuchi-taichou agreed with me. As painful as the initial changes were, reversing it would kill him. And the chamber She implanted is so integrated into him that it would be like severing a limb to remove it.”

Tōshirō nodded and he continued. “And I think, he may have acquired the same ability as Yoruichi to change form, from what you saw in his inner world. The inner world of course reflects the outer world, so it wouldn’t be far-fetched to believe he figured out how to protect himself by bending his reiatsu to shift form like Yoruichi has. I’ll have her come talk to him about controlling it.”

“So, what is he now?” Grimmjow asked from where he rested on the other futon. Shiro had given him one hell of a fight.

“Something new,” Urahara said with a sigh. “He’s still Ichigo, but with these physical changes, unless I can build a special Gigai, he can’t return to the human world. The loss of his human body is not a good thing for anyone involved.”

Tōshirō tried to hold his tongue. “Why does he come to me?” he mused. “And what about the pheromones that Grimmjow described? Isn’t that like a heat or a rut or something?”

“Might be. He might see you as his protector or something. There may be a bond created there, Tōshirō-san, that cannot easily be severed. If he has bonded to you, and you intend to reject him, you must tell me now. I’m afraid the alterations have left him in need of a…I don’t want to say owner or master, because that isn’t it…person in control. And he may have chosen you because you’ve protected him. He may begin to show more affection toward you.”

Grimmjow looked at them. “He’ll need a mate, and seems ta me yer the one he chose.”

Tōshirō sighed, and put a hand on Ichigo’s face. He turned in his sleep toward him and Tōshirō started a bit.

Tōshirō blinked and looked up at him. “What? You mean, like…but Ichigo isn’t that way…”

“Ah, that may not be so,” Urahara murmured. “But your thoughts on it should be taken into account. Reject him properly if he does approach you in that fashion. Don’t lead him to believe there is something there when there is not.” The eccentric shopkeeper turned and left them alone.

Tōshirō frowned, and looked down to see him turn on his side, more facing where Tōshirō stood, and his hand reached out and grasped the small captain’s, and he sighed in his sleep. What was this? Tōshirō himself had never thought of such things as relationships. His most common ones were with Momo, more his sister than anything, and Rangiku, who was more like his child than anything else. But Ichigo had always fascinated him. Souls didn’t define the people they loved based on gender, after all, living for thousands of years meant finding someone for reasons other than humans did. Humans based preference often on procreation. However, souls didn’t bear children, not in the same way as humans. So, he’d never loved another, except Momo, but again, that was different. He wanted to protect her, and shield her. But this, he wanted to stop the ache in Ichigo’s heart.

“I will accept if he wishes it,” he said finally, turning and leaving the room to go find the shower.

-oooooo-OOOOOO-oooooo-

Fumiki growled as she paced the chamber. It wasn’t much bigger than one of the cells she had shoved the useless Arrancar in, but here she had one of the “Sensors” and one of the “Blockers” she had created. Those stupid Arrancar and Shinigami had destroyed the rest of her creations. She turned toward a creature that was once an Arrancar. He, or she, Fumiki didn’t even remember now, stood bolted to the wall by the bones the flared up from the shoulders of their body. She checked the cords that ran from the hole in the chest into the box beside him. That was the Sensor she’d created. Trapped in Resurrección form, she had channeled the power into the interface that she could read. On that interface, a sort of radar appeared, with dots for the highest concentrations of spiritual energy in the area. They were in Las Noches. Her kitten experiment showed up a different color than the rest. The Shinigami were red dots, the Arrancar were gray, and then there was the Fullbringer who was orange. Then there was that single blue dot. She kind of wanted to get her hands on that one. He was the one that had the bow. But that would be something for another day. For now, her focus was on kitten, who was a purple dot on the screen. He was surrounded by so many. She would have to wait until they left.

She snarled and punched the Sensor. It didn’t do anything, of course. The bones that she’d grown around them to encase them protected the Arrancar. She glanced over at the Blocker. Like the Sensor beside him, this was another Arrancar that she’d altered. He emitted a constant hum because of the interference field he generated to keep anyone from finding this location. Like the other one, he was partially encased in bone and stuck in constant Resurrección. This one had a visible eye, and now and then it looked at her. She saw that eye was staring at her again. She snorted and reached onto a table that sat beside her with her tools. She picked up a scalpel and proceeded to cut the offending eye out.

When she was done she stared at the empty socket and smiled. Good. Now, to wait until they crossed the worlds… If she was lucky, not many would go with him.

-oooooo-OOOOOO-oooooo-

Ichigo woke up with a splitting headache and he honestly didn’t want to move from the cozy nest of covers he had wrapped around himself. He purred thoughtfully and then startled awake, sitting up and blinking. He didn’t recognize where he was immediately, but it was a white room and he was on a clean futon. His head had been lying in Tōshirō’s lap, and Grimmjow was on a futon on the opposite wall. No, it was real? All of it was real?

He reached up and grimaced at the triangular ears still on top of his head, and the tail that was now fluffed and swishing agitatedly behind him. He bit down on his lip and winced as blood trickled. He flopped back with a groan as the door slid open. He didn’t move, but soon he saw Urahara looking down at him.

“Welcome back to the waking world, Ichigo-san. You’ve slept through nearly three days since we got you back,” Urahara said coming in and sitting down beside him. “How do you feel, and what do you remember?”

He closed his eyes and shook his head. “I feel exhausted and seem to remember everything, unfortunately. What happened to…um…that woman?” he asked, and Urahara didn’t miss the shiver that went through him.

“Well, I doubt we’ll hear from her soon. She got away, but she is somewhere here in Hueco Mundo. And that’s what I need to talk to you about. Obviously, you can’t stay here anymore,” Urahara said with a sigh. “I think you’ll be safest in Soul Society. I went back to the World of the Living and discussed it with your father, and he agrees.”

Tōshirō stirred beside him and looked at him sleepily. “Ah, you’re awake.”

Ichigo nodded. “Yeah, I’m awake. I guess Soul Society is the only place I can go.”

“I’ll be there,” Tōshirō said with a smile. “We’ll figure it out. Between Urahara-san and Kurotsuchi-taichou, we can figure out how to turn you back to normal.”

“I don’t think it matters. I wish I could change it back,” Ichigo whispered as his head dropped. “I’m really a freak now, no one will want anything to do with me.”

“Ichigo,” Urahara said softly. “Komamura-taichou does fine in Soul Society, remember? And he appears far less human than you do currently.”

Ichigo shook his head. “I don’t mean that. Everything else, I’m broken. I can’t even think straight anymore, and I’m scared witless at my own shadow.”

“Ichigo, your mind hasn’t completely reverted back to human yet, you were barely more than an animal three days ago,” Urahara said and stood close to him, but not touching him. “She almost completely removed _you_ from your mind. If it hadn’t been for your hollow and Zangetsu, we would have never gotten you back.”

“And Tōshirō,” Ichigo said softly, crossing his arms over himself and suppressing a shudder. “He brought me out.”

“That he did,” Urahara said, reaching to put a hand on his back only to have him jerk away and turn wide eyed and stare at him. “Sorry, I wasn’t sure. It will be better, okay?”

Ichigo shook his head. “No, it won’t. I still feel like…like something is missing…that a chunk of me is just…gone!” he said, tears already pricking at his eyes, but he didn’t care. “I can’t…I can’t even collect myself, I feel lost.”

Grimmjow woke up and looked over at him. Tōshirō had put an arm around him and soon Grimmjow had crawled over and took his hand. He looked at him. “Ichigo,” Grimmjow spoke quietly. “I’m sorry I couldn’t stop it while she had us.”

“But it isn’t your fault!” Ichigo snapped, turning and taking Grimmjow’s hand. There was something between them. “She…she used you to make me into this. And then made you…you…” Ichigo choked off the words. Right now, he was glad that he didn’t see Grimmjow as the one at fault. One look at the Arrancar’s face showed how he felt. “You took care of me.”

Grimmjow swallowed, glancing at Urahara and then Tōshirō. He sighed. “So you want me to go with you to Soul Society, or stay here?”

For a second, Ichigo didn’t understand the question. Grimmjow had to go with him. That was a given. “Why…why would you stay here?” he asked, suddenly desperate. He didn’t get why he was desperate to have Grimmjow go too, but he needed him to go. He was…something else to him now. Not a rival, not… He shook the thought away. He wasn’t a lover, but something much more important. Grimmjow was his stability right now.  


	7. Depths of the Frozen Heart

 

As soon as Ichigo entered Soul Society, though a wave of something washed over him and he collapsed to the sound of panicked voices. He felt Grimmjow’s strong arms catching him, and he knew that he was going to be safe, even if he was passing out. He heard Tōshirō’s voice keenly around him. He felt weird as the world blanked out around him, and he thought that there were so many good smells.

He woke sometime later looking up at the ceiling of the fourth division. He grabbed the sheet and tossed it off immediately, startling Isane who was standing at the foot of the bed.

“Oh, you’re awake, Ichigo-san!” she said. “Are you too warm?”

“Burning up, why’s it so hot in here,” he muttered, rubbing his temples.

“It isn’t hot, Ichigo-san, why…oh dear…” she muttered and left.

Ichigo frowned and sat up. What was happening, he wondered, loosening his Shihakuso. He found it interesting; now that his reiatsu was back to normal, his Shihakuso had altered to include a place for his tail. It had also turned into a lot more slender and form fitting version. And now he realized the material was thinner, and as he watched it was turning a strange silver color. He stared and looked up as Unohana came in.

“Unohana-taichou?” he asked. “What…what’s happening…”

“Oh, as we thought,” she said, coming over to scan him with her kido. “Your entrance into Soul Society triggered a heat.”

“A what?” he asked, frowning, wiping sweat off his head. “What does that mean? I mean, I’m hot, and feel weird, and my Shihakuso is changing for some reason…”

“The animal side is trying to attract a mate,” she said simply and Ichigo looked at her and blinked.

“What?”

Grimmjow, who was leaning against the wall shook his head. “I don’t know how this is possible, but he smells like what she would do to force me to rut, but this time it isn’t as strong, and for some reason it doesn’t seem to be affecting me. I don’t understand why this would happen when he came into Soul Society…unless…” Grimmjow’s voice trailed off.

“I’m afraid this might be a problem if you attract any spiritual being. If we’re lucky, you need a similar species to your own, which is complex, to say the least, but we’ll…” she cut off as Renji came in with Rukia.

Immediately, Renji’s eyes went wide and he looked woozy on his feet. Rukia reached up and grabbed him, looking at Unohana curiously.

“That answers that question,” Unohana said with a sigh. “We may have a problem, contact the Sou-taichou, Isane…he needs to know immediately….”

Renji moved before Rukia could blink, moving up and grabbing Ichigo by the shoulders and staring at him. “What the hell…” he muttered.

“Ah, Renji!” Ichigo gasped and then shook his head. “Nope, not you!” he said and before anyone could move, Ichigo’s knee shot up and cracked Renji right in the chin. Renji stumbled backward, looking dazed as Ichigo flipped backward off the bed and crouched against the wall next to Grimmjow. Grimmjow arched a brow and stared at Renji, waiting to see if he did anything again.

“Rukia, get Renji out of here, Isane, no males are to come in here at all, I want two female Shinigami on the door. The mating instinct is stronger than I would have liked. He’s releasing pheromones, and there are certain males in Soul Society that will be hard pressed to keep away from him…” she said.

“I don’t want a mate!” Ichigo said, sitting now on the floor and rocking back and forth. “I don’t want that!”

Rukia had come back and looked at Unohana. She headed over to him. “Ichigo, come on, we understand…”

“I can’t…I can’t deny it, though…I have to…answer the instinct or it will tear me apart…but I don’t want anyone to do that…” he said through tearful eyes. Grimmjow put an arm around him and Ichigo leaned into him with a sob.

Rukia looked up. “We can’t keep him here, he’ll cause problems all over your people. We can’t just leave Grimmjow to roam about Soul Society, so we need a Shinigami and they need to be clear headed…” She looked at him. “Tōshirō, do you trust him?” she asked suddenly remembering that Tōshirō seemed to be the only male he’d actually been around that he didn’t cringe away from or try to hit since everything had begun. The Captain of the tenth might be able to handle the situation.

She stood up and dashed out the door to find either the tenth’s taichou or Matsumoto. It didn’t take long, both were at the division and she convinced them they needed to come to the fourth to help figure out what to do. They’d need a captain level to keep Ichigo safe, and Ichigo definitely didn’t trust Soi Fon, so that left Tōshirō. They made it back to find the place in chaos. Fights had broken out between Shinigami and the females were indeed trying to curb the problem.

Tōshirō went immediately to where he was crouched in the corner of the room cradled against Grimmjow’s chest, sweating and shivering at the same time.

“Ichigo?” Tōshirō asked, kneeling and putting a hand out on the back of his neck. He looked up. He practically sobbed then and grabbed onto the captain. Tōshirō shook his head. “Damn it, Ichigo. I’m not your owner, remember?”

“I know, I know, but you’re the only Shinigami I trust!” he said into his shoulder. “I can’t trust anyone else, they don’t know everything like you do, and then they’re all trying to do…to…to…and I don’t…please just help me keep them away, I can’t go home, and now Soul Society isn’t safe, I don’t know what to do!”

Tōshirō sighed and sat down beside him for a minute until he calmed down. Grimmjow continued to hold an arm around Ichigo’s shoulders. Rukia and Matsumoto looked at each other with knowing grins. There was a connection between them now, something that neither of them seemed able to identify and name. The connection between Grimmjow and Ichigo was different, but no matter how much Grimmjow wanted to help, he was still an Arrancar before anything else.

“Come on, you stay with me, and I doubt anyone will try anything,” he said with a sigh, helping Ichigo to his feet and staring at his clothes.

“What’s with the clothes?” Tōshirō asked with a deep frown.

Ichigo looked down and grimaced. “My Shihakuso! It changed again!”

“That’s your Shihakuso?” he asked, looking it over.

The kusodo was pure white now, with a silver gray trim, and the sleeves were shorter, coming to rest above his elbows. The hakama were slimmer, almost as tight as trousers from the human world, though in the same silver-gray as the trim of the kusodo. His sandals were gone, as were his tabi, and his feet seemed to have changed more, the nails more catlike, and seemed to protrude when he stepped. And of course, there was a place that let his orange tail free.

“Yeah, no idea, changed earlier…” he muttered, looking at it.

Tōshirō rolled his eyes, and they all three headed out. Apparently, Grimmjow and Tōshirō’s presence was enough to keep most the Shinigami away from him. Unohana watched as most of them seemed to come back to their senses once Tōshirō showed up.

“I think Ichigo’s already picked his mate,” she commented to Matsumoto.

“I think so too,” the fuku-taichou answered with a smile.

As they walked back to the tenth, Ichigo clung to Tōshirō’s hand like a lifeline. Grimmjow had taken up a position behind them to watch for anything from behind. Ichigo was scared that Kenpachi was going to show up looking for a fight again. Or Ikkaku, or someone like that. Tōshirō didn’t seem bothered, though, simply heading his direction until Ichigo was yanked roughly to the side with a squeak. Tōshirō turned and saw a couple seated Shinigami from eleventh had yanked him away. Grimmjow was standing with his hands near his waist, but his Zanpakutō was gone, of course, having been confiscated by the captains so he was less of a threat. The Arrancar also wore a limiter band.

“What is this?” muttered one of Shinigami, pulling Ichigo against him.

“Looks like a little kitty got into the Serietei,” the second said. Ichigo was helpless against them, his body refusing to respond.

“Hey!” Tōshirō said, glaring at them. “Just what do you think you’re doing?”

The first, a tall blonde man, looked up. “Well, just look at him, he’s so…pretty. And smells nice,” he said, burying his head into Ichigo’s neck and biting down. Ichigo yelped and tried to push him off, claws slicing through the fabric easily and drawing beads of blood across the skin.

Tōshirō’s Hyōrinmaru lifted his head upward and Grimmjow let out a deep growl. Tōshirō held a hand toward Grimmjow to make sure he didn’t move. The last thing he needed was Grimmjow to hurt someone and get locked up. “I suggest you let him go.”

“Oh, Hitsugaya-taichou, you’re much too inexperienced to know what to do with this little toy,” the other, a broad dark-haired man said, who reached down and yanked hard on the tail. Ichigo’s eyes went wide and he squirmed against them. “You should let us take care of him…”

The next thing Ichigo knew he was being pulled along in a flash step, holding onto Tōshirō for dear life, two partially frozen eleventh members behind them. He heard Grimmjow’s deep laugher as he followed them in his own sonido. Tōshirō was muttering about oafish brutes from the eleventh, and having to make Matsumoto have a talk with Yachiru. Finally, they reached the tenth, and Tōshirō put Ichigo into his office and then went to handle the issue with Grimmjow being so restricted. He told Grimmjow to come with him so they could arrange something for Grimmjow to be able to walk around freely with Ichigo when Tōshirō wasn’t able to be with him. He left strict orders that no one was to enter his office while he was gone. Of course, he underestimated the power of the allure he’d locked inside his office.

Ichigo sat down at the desk and looked through all the paperwork that Tōshirō had to put up with. He felt a little sorry that he had to do so much. He leaned back in the chair and proceeded to doze off again. The cat nap thing was annoying him, though. He’d never slept so much in his life. But his nap was short lived as he woke up feeling someone leaning over him, hands petting his hair and scratching the ears on top of his head. He hummed his appreciation, because it did feel good. Then his eyes opened and he was staring at a Shinigami he didn’t know who was in the chair with him, knees planted on either side of his hips and elbows resting beside his head.

“Hello, there kitty,” came the low voice of the dark eyed man. His hair was a wild black mess on top of his head, and his eyes a deep brownish black. Ichigo’s breath caught as he stared.

“Who…who…are you?” he said.

“I’m one of Hitsugaya-taichou’s aids. And I was dropping off some paperwork and found such a sweet morsel lying out in his chair. Goodness, does he even know what to do with you?” he asked, sitting back on Ichigo’s legs and causing the chair to snap down to a sitting position. Ichigo stared as one of his hands traveled down his chest toward his obi. “I can take care of you, you know, make you feel less…hot.”

Ichigo shook his head. “No, no, stop it,” he said, pushing back on him, but he was incredibly weak ever since this heat thing started. He guessed it was to keep him from throwing all potential mates away. But it was annoying right now. “Get off!” he said, louder.

“I can’t do that, look here,” he said, and grabbed Ichigo’s hand and pressed it against the hardness in his hakama. “You can’t leave me to suffer, can you?”

Ichigo felt his vision blur and images rushed into him with a vengeance as every instance that Grimmjow had taken him and the men in the warehouse and he sobbed. “No, no, don’t…you can’t…” He began to fight him harder and the Shinigami over him backhanded him suddenly. Ichigo gasped and found his hands pinned to the top of the chair in a hard grip.

“Shut up, you can’t deny it, you want this,” he said, licking at his throat. Ichigo sobbed again.

“Tōshirō!” he said softly. “Please, Tōshirō…no, stop, stop, please, no!”

His head snapped aside again as this Shinigami slapped him hard. “The taichou is busy right now, he can’t help you…and by the time…”

“Get. Out,” came a very clear and cold voice from the doorway.

The man over him scrambled off Ichigo. Ichigo jumped out of the chair and scrambled to Tōshirō. He dropped to the floor behind him against the wall. Ichigo grabbed onto Tōshirō’s hakama hem tightly, as though he was going to escape before he sent the man away. Grimmjow wasn’t there.

“I said, get out,” Tōshirō said, his voice tight and obviously annoyed. “I believe I said no one was to enter.”

“I’m sorry, taichou, I just was bringing paperwork, and I didn’t know there was anyone, and he was sleeping there and I don’t know what happened… He…he enticed me somehow, it wasn’t my fault!” he stammered, glaring at Ichigo, who was pressed against the wall beside the door with one hand tangled in the hem of Tōshirō’s hakama still.

“Do not blame him for your inability to control yourself,” Tōshirō said with a glare. “Yes, he is releasing pheromones that influence you, but that doesn’t mean you get to jump him and rape him in the middle of my office!”

“But…but he…he…” he stammered, still frozen by the ice captain’s gaze.

“He nothing. You came in here and he was asleep, you said so yourself. If you had left him like that, nothing would have occurred, would it? You’re trying to tell me he indicated while sleeping he wanted you to molest him,” he said calmly.

The Shinigami was obviously flustered and just stared at Ichigo, who still sat with his back to the wall. “Well, yes, I mean, no, but the smell was strong and obviously he wanted to…”

“Wanted to?” asked Tōshirō, white brow arching. “So he wanted to by crying and telling you to stop.” It wasn’t a question and the man’s eyes dropped. “Get out of my office. And if I see you again, you will meet my Bankai full force. I suggest you put in for a transfer to a unit more in line with your personality, like the brutes at the eleventh.”

The Shinigami was gone in a moment, the door slamming behind him. Ichigo let go of Tōshirō’s hakama and buried his head in his hands as he leaned against his knees. He felt a hand on his back.

“I can’t…I can’t do this!” he sobbed and felt Tōshirō pull him against him. “I just…I just want to be normal again…before those guys in the warehouse…before that woman…before all this! I’m…I’m just nothing anymore, look at what I have become…”

Tōshirō pulled him up, wrapping one arm around his neck and tucking him down onto his lap swiftly, and running one hand over his head repeatedly. “How…how…I just…I…I don’t know what to do. I’m so lonely and tired of being lonely, Tōshirō,” he sobbed, his whole body shaking. “The warehouse, I didn’t want to deal with it, and…and then…that woman what she made Grimmjow do… He…he….” A sob interrupted his words. “When he did that the first time, I hurt so much…how can it hurt that much? I don’t want to feel like that again,” he said, pulling Tōshirō’s hakama with his hands into his face. “And now, I have to do that again? Because of what that Fullbringer did to me? I can’t…it hurts to much, how can I do anything like that…I’d rather die than…”

Tōshirō pushed him up and turned his face to him suddenly, leaving Ichigo gasping in surprise. “No, don’t say you’d rather die. Because that’s not what happens here. You have the choice now. Those men in that warehouse, they didn’t give you a choice.  That horrid woman didn’t give you a choice in anything, what she did to you, how she changed your body, and she intended to use you to his own ends without your choice. But now you do have a choice. Just now, you told him no. He should have listened to you. You told those two men earlier no, and you told Renji no. Because you have a choice about who can touch you, be near you, or love you even,” he said, hands gripping the sides of his face firmly but not hard enough to even redden the skin.

“But…but I’m too weak, if you hadn’t been there earlier, and just now…they would have…have…” Tōshirō shook his head.

“Renji stopped, right?” Tōshirō asked softly.

Ichigo nodded slowly. Renji had left after he told him no, he hadn’t even really tried to touch him at all in a wrong way. “Ichigo, there are people who won’t respect a person no matter what. And there are people like Renji who are perfectly capable of both respecting a person and controlling themselves. Do you think I’ve been immune?” he asked, head tilting.

Ichigo blinked. “But…you haven’t said anything or done anything…or…”

“Of course not, Ichigo. Like Renji, I have control of myself. I am completely able to feel the same things as those others. And I feel the influence of the pheromones you release. But I respect your choices, Ichigo, and I know that if you desire a person you will tell them. And until this is over, I will stand beside you and keep those with no self-control off you and those that don’t respect your right to say no,” Tōshirō said with a soft smile. “In fact, that’s what I was doing. Figuring out something with the Sou-Taichou about Grimmjow so he can serve as your guardian around here when I’m not available. I’ll be here for you, and he will too.”

“But I’m more of an animal…” Ichigo said, eyes starting to brim with tears again.

“No, you aren’t an animal. You are a very powerful Shinigami that had a terrible thing happen to him and was turned into a hybrid of sorts. You have some animal traits, and you have human ones. It doesn’t make you less at all. Just because you have those animal traits does not mean anyone gets to treat you like an animal,” Tōshirō said, his hands still cupping Ichigo’s face.

Ichigo’s eyes overflowed then. “But who would want me if not for the animal?”

Tōshirō frowned, staring into the wide brown eyes with their strange vertical pupil. “What do you mean?”

“I’m damaged and a freak, and used already, why would anyone want me except because of the stupid animal calling them? They wouldn’t want me if they knew what had happened, about the warehouse and how weak I was and let those men do that to me, and then that woman got to me because of it, and then how pitiful I’ve become…”

Ichigo’s tirade was cut off by an extremely soft and cool pair of lips pressing gently against his own, shocking him into complete silence. Tōshirō pulled back after the gentle touch and Ichigo had to wonder if it had happened at all. He blinked owlishly at the ice captain.

“You can be such a fool, Ichigo Kurosaki,” he said. “That had nothing to do with the animal. And everything to do with who you are. You are selfless and loyal to a fault. You are fearless and brave to a foolish extent. You don’t care where people come from, what their past is, you judge people based on who is right in front of you and you refuse to back down from what you believe in. Even in the face of what happened, you were worried about your sisters and father, and how it would affect those around you so much that you came to Soul Society to protect them. No, you are a good soul, Ichigo. A very good soul. And that is all there is to it.”

Ichigo stared at him a moment longer, brown eyes locked on those unearthly teal eyes. Then he leaned forward and pressed his own lips against Tōshirō’s. This time Tōshirō’s tongue flicked out and surprised him, and scared him a bit, but he parted his lips a little and Tōshirō took the opportunity, sliding his tongue into his mouth gently, with no aggression. Ichigo responded by touching against his tongue with his own and then found himself leaning back against the wall as Tōshirō moved forward, pressing him against the wall fully. And this time it didn’t feel scary, it felt okay. It was gentle and exploring, and he melted into the hands of the captain.

A knock startled both of them and Tōshirō stood up, brushing a hand over his Shihakuso to straighten it. Ichigo sat where he was, face flushed and nearly panting. The heat was boiling over inside him now. Unlike the other times when he’d been touched, this time he was growing aroused and hot all over.

“Taichou?” came Rangiku’s voice.

“What is it, Matsumoto?” he asked, opening the door. Ichigo was hidden by the door.

“Is Ichigo still with you?” she asked, glancing in the room.

“Of course, where else would he be?” he asked, annoyed with his fuku-taichou.

She arched a brow at him. “Um, I got a transfer request from…”

“Approve it.”

“What happened?” she asked.

Tōshirō sighed. “He couldn’t understand a simple order to stay out of my office and took it upon himself to try and take advantage of Ichigo in his current situation.”

“Oh,” she said. “Right away then, I’ll have him out before the hour is up, Taichou.”

She turned and left, saving the smile until she was well down the hall from her taichou’s office. She hadn’t missed the fact that his sash was crooked, or his lips were puffy. Obviously, he was finally figuring things out for himself.

-oooooo-OOOOOO-oooooo-

The Sou-Taichou stared at Grimmjow and for a few minutes, the Arrancar was afraid that this very old, very stern looking Shinigami was going to send him back to Hueco Mundo again.

“Hitsugaya-taichou vouches for you in this instance and despite my hesitation, I will allow you freedom within the Serietei only. I understand the problem with Kurosaki, and since you seem to be immune to this strange pheromone that he is emitting, you will be the optimal choice to serve as a guardian to him. I will, however, revoke your privileges if you step out of line.”

“I understand,” Grimmjow said and nodded to the head captain. Around him, the other captains besides Tōshirō had gathered to listen.

“Sir, this is unprecedented, and I am afraid…” Kurotsuchi-taichou began.

“I have made my choice. Your request to take Kurosaki to examine him for experimentation purposes is denied. Ichigo Kurosaki is no to be used in such a fashion. He is to be protected. I want the second division on high alert. Please, Kurotsuchi-taichou, you need to be on alert for this Fullbringer in the case that she or the other one tries to cross into Soul Society,” the Sou-Taichou said with a decisive nod.

Kurotsuchi looked at Grimmjow. “Come along, I’ll adjust the monitoring band so that you can move freely within the confines of the Seireitei.”

From the shadows, Fumiki smiled. She wasn’t going to cross the Dangai, she already had. It had been surprisingly easy to walk through by altering the environment around her at the chemical level to hide her. These Shinigami were not nearly as smart as they believed they were. However, she was going to observe her suject for a while. This perhaps was the best-case scenario for her. She could watch the mating process and perhaps the implantation would occur. Then, once the child was born, she would take it and escape back to a hiding place between the worlds. Yes, that would be ideal.

She knew that the last implantation had succeeded, though. She had seen the scans as the spiritual energies began to form. She had no idea why the subject was still in heat if the implantation had been successful. Unless she had not anticipated the strength of the need to bond. Grimmjow wasn’t the one the subject bonded with. She smiled. Of course, the subject had already chosen a mate before she acquired him, and the forced bonding didn’t take because there was an existing bond. That was a brilliant thought, and now she understood. She was curious then what would happen to the implanted offspring already present. Would only one be born, or would a second implantation occur? Or would the fact that the subject was still in heat mean that like felines, his offspring could have multiple fathers. She believed that just might be the case…

* * *

**Author's Note:**

> Autism Self-Advocacy Network  
> • info@autisticadvocacy.org   
> • http://autisticadvocacy.org/   
> National Alliance on Mental Health  
> • 1-800-950-6264  
> • http://www.nami.org/   
> Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance  
> • 1-800-826-3632  
> • http://www.dbsalliance.org/   
> Transgender Youth Equality Foundation  
> • 207-478-4087  
> • http://www.transyouthequality.org/   
> Trans Student Educational Resources  
> • TSER@transstudent.org   
> • http://www.transstudent.org/   
> Stopbullying.gov  
> • https://www.stopbullying.gov/   
> PACERS National Bullying Prevention Center  
> • 1-800-537-2237  
> • http://www.pacer.org/bullying/   
> Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration  
> • 1-877-SAMHSA-7  
> • https://www.samhsa.gov/   
> National Suicide Prevention Hotline  
> • 1-800-273-8255  
> • https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org/   
> Suicide Prevention Resources  
> • http://www.sprc.org/   
> American Foundation of Suicide Prevention   
> • https://www.afsp.org/   
> The American Association of Suicidology   
> • http://www.suicidology.org/   
> Crisis Text Line  
> • Text "Start" 741-741  
> • http://www.crisistextline.org/   
> S.A.F.E. Alternatives  
> • 1-800-DONTCUT  
> • http://www.selfinjury.com/   
> Trans Lifeline  
> • US: 1-877-565-8860 Canada: 1-877-330-6366  
> • https://www.translifeline.org/   
> GLBT National Youth Talk   
> • 1-800-246-7743 (M-F, 4pm-12am EST/Sat, 12pm-5pm EST)  
> The Trevor Project  
> • 1-866-488-7386 (24/7)  
> • Text “Trevor” 1-202-304-1200 (F 4pm - 8pm EST)  
> • http://www.thetrevorproject.org/   
> Disaster Distress Helpline   
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> • Text "TalkWithUs" 66746  
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> • 1-877-739-3895  
> • http://www.nsvrc.org/   
> RAINN- Rape, Abuse, and Incest National Network  
> • 1-800-656-4673  
> • https://www.rainn.org/   
> National Sexual Assault Hotline  
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> The National Coalition Against Domestic Violence  
> • 303-839-1852  
> • http://www.ncadv.org/   
> The National Domestic Violence Hotline  
> • 1-800-799-SAFE  
> • http://www.thehotline.org/   
> The National Resource Center on Domestic Violence  
> • 1-800-537-2238  
> • http://www.nrcdv.org/   
> Warm Ear Line  
> • 1-866-WARM EAR (927-6327)  
> • http://warmline.org/   
> National Human Trafficking Resource Center   
> • 1-888-373-7888  
> • Text BeFree (233733)  
> National Runaway Safeline   
> • 1-800-RUNAWAY (786-2929) (24/7)  
> • http://www.1800runaway.org/   
> USA National Child Abuse Hotline   
> • 1-800-422-4453 (24/7)  
> National Safe Place   
> • Text SAFE and your current location to the number 69866 (24/7)  
> • http://nationalsafeplace.org/   
> National Eating Disorders Association   
> • 800-931-2237 (M-F, 11:30 am-7:30 pm EST)  
> • http://www.nationaleatingdisorders.org/   
> ANAD: National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders   
> • 630-577-1330 (M-F,12 pm-8 pm EST)  
> • http://www.anad.org/


End file.
